


Love Me Dead

by Unda



Category: One Piece
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Band Fic, Comfort/Angst, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-05
Updated: 2014-11-03
Packaged: 2017-12-31 14:13:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 277,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1032640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unda/pseuds/Unda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just because you suffer for something doesn't make it art. The shitty singer and the stupidly lost guitarist would do well to remember that. As if succeeding in the music industry wasn't hard enough without all the stupid decisions and ill-advised emotional ties. Modern rock band ZoSan AU. Songs aren't mine.</p><p>Ongoing fic</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Songs for this chapter are by Ludo and are (in order) Lake Pontchatrain and Hum Along

The Baratie is a first class music venue with a powerful reputation, it has never had to cancel an act. It doesn’t sound like much of a reputation at first, which is until you realise that the Baratie is one of the last stops before musicians hit the big time and tour down the famous route to stardom known as the Grand Line. The Baratie is the last pit stop, in theory it’s the last place you can be a big fish in a small pond, but in reality it’s a high class venue full of people meeting their make or break moment. The place is always heaving with both talent scouts and fans alike.

And they never, ever, cancel a show.

Every person at the Baratie is a musician in their own right and if the lead guitarist cracks under the pressure and spends the night hurling his guts out from the stress, well, one of the Baratie’s guitarists will step up in their place. The show must go on. Any band playing at the Baratie must submit their music in advance both recorded and sheet in order to be allowed to play, and each night everyone at the Baratie takes their copy and studies it, so on the slightest bit of notice any one of them can fill a spot on stage.

Right now the lead singer of a band that’s headlining tonight has choked, got himself drunk beyond repair and is currently catatonic under the stairs in the back room. And Sanji is sat on the sofa reading sheet music and listening to the band’s set list, preparing to take on the voice of the man currently only using his to moan out in his stupor and occasionally spit bile. The rest of the band are flitting around nervously, throwing alternately sympathetic and furious glances at their passed out singer and wary and grateful ones at Sanji.

“Alright assholes, get up on stage now or I’ll kick you up there. The show must go on.” Zeff growls, leaning around the door.

Sanji slides his headphones off, cracks his neck, grabs the sheet music and heads out the door first. The band trails nervously behind him but Sanji is as cool as the bottle of water he’s casually throwing up in the air and catching again. He’s done this hundreds of times before, he’s been hundreds of different singers and tonight is no different. As he jumps up on the stage a fair number of the regulars notice him and cheer.

“What happened? Did the singer choke?” One shouts out to him.

“Ah… Unfortunately Kreig is sick this evening and Sanji here is filling in for us. So… I hope you enjoy it!” The guitarist Gin says nervously, standing too close to the mic. Sanji rolls his eyes, Kreig is gonna be feeling sick alright, but not until he wakes up.

“Choke!” The regulars cackle as the band plugs in. Sanji tries not to smirk.

The music isn’t really his style, but it’s easily in the centre of his vocal range which in fairness is remarkably wide. The music itself is hardly a stretch for him and he’s able to easily mimic the passed out man and add his own little flair to it and as soon as Gin realises that they’re not all screwed the rest of the band really gets behind it.

Ten songs and two bottles of water later Sanji hops off of the stage to raucous applause and saunters to the bar. He’s not big on sticking around for the praise, it’s the people who played and wrote the songs that deserve the applause, he just lends his voice to it. The rest of the band heads backstage, no doubt to awaken their stupid lead singer from his catatonic state.

He slides behind the bar and up next to his old man, he snags a bartending apron off of a hook and ties it around himself.

“Sounding a little strained up there lightweight. Sure you can handle this?” Zeff snorts at him.

“Fuck you old man.” He shoots back easily.

“What can I get you?” He says to a couple of guys queuing on the other side of the bar. The man doesn’t even really look at him and instead recites the order, glancing at the beers on the shelf behind Sanji. It often happens like this, he gets off the stage and behind the bar and people stop looking at him. He’s never sure if he’s disappointed or relieved by it.

His hands fly over bottles and pull drinks, he cashes up the order in his head and gives the total out to the guy before he’s even done putting it through the register which of course just confirms his math. He serves the next customer and the next, after that his attention is caught by two beautiful women leaning on the bar looking right at him.

He rushes over, his face flushing slightly with the pleasure of being the focus of the attention of not one but two beautiful ladies. The first is leaning over the bar, offering Sanji a generous look down her shirt (though he tries not to stare, he is a gentleman after all!), her red hair flows gorgeously around her face and her big bright eyes watch him with interest. Her friend is taller, older and a fair bit more glamorous.

Older ladies, rather than girls in their teens like the first one, tend to have a certain self-confidence about how they look and this one is putting out an air of self-assured sex appeal. She looks damn good and she knows it, she’s dressed to highlight the most beautiful parts of her and simply oozes style, her dark hair and wicked smile only make the affect even more dazzling.

“Ladies! What can I do for two gorgeous women like yourselves?” He beams at them.

“It’s Sanji, isn’t it? You were very, very good up there.” The red head smiles at him.

“Why thank you, I hope I managed to carry the evening on, it’s always a shame when a performer has to step out but we do our best to fill in the gaps.” He nods modestly, accepting her praise with a little flutter in his heart.

“Oh, you were better than that. We’ve seen Kreig play before and frankly you were better than he was. Do you play with them often?” The dark haired one asks curiously.

“You flatter me, but no, it’s the first time I’ve played with them.” He says, shaking his head.

“So, what, if a singer just drops out you fill their place just like that? Even without practicing?” The red head asks in surprise.

“Well, yeah. If you play at the Baratie you have to submit sheet music first, along with a recording so if there’s an emergency I can step in if it’s a singer or one of the others if it’s a guitarist or drummer or whatever. I was just sight reading and working from memory really. Can I get you anything to drink or were you wanting to know about playing here?” He asks, not able to quite place if they’re here to order a drink or wanting to ask about performing. They look like the musical type a little bit at least.

“A little of both, if I could get a tequila screw – blood orange if you have it. And… Robin do you just want a double whiskey? And… something for yourself too.” She smiles as he friend agrees and hands him a note.

“You can step into any singing role then? If so we might have a job offer for you.” The dark haired one, apparently called Robin, says smoothly.

“I’m sorry ladies, I don’t steal other singer’s jobs. I get plenty of offers from bands who have difficult singers who just want the same voice and none of the problems. I won’t put anyone out of work. Sorry to turn you down.” He answers, shaking his head as he pours tequila into a glass.

“We don’t have a singer, we have a guitarist that’s filling in and really he’d be happier just playing his guitars. We haven’t had a singer in this band, you wouldn’t be replacing or ousting anyone. Oh, thank you.” Robin smiles at him as she takes her whiskey from him. Both women are looking at him expectantly and Sanji finds himself frozen.

“Please come and audition with us, we could even come here during the day if you’d be more comfortable here. Please?” The red head asks, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Sanji knows when he’s being manipulated but… well… she is very pretty and it’s hard to say no to a lady. But still… he’s not sure about this.

It’s true his dream has always been to be in a band and play at the very best venues. Supposedly there’s even this exclusive lounge in a venue along the Grand Line where only the very best singers get taken back to sing called the All Blue. The acoustics of the place are supposed to be perfect, enough to make any real singer weep from the sound. Even better is that in theory it’s hidden within another venue, so unless you’re good enough you could pass right by it and never know! He’d love to be there, even if people say it’s just an urban legend.

Still, he has his responsibilities here. If he left the rest of the Baratie staff might have trouble filling in for him. There are a few other singers but none as good as him, and they find it a little harder to pick songs up so quickly. He’d hate to just step out and be responsible for the Baratie losing it’s perfect reputation.

“I don’t think I can… my old man needs me here to help run the place.” He says, shaking his head unhappily and handing her the tequila screw she asked for.

“That’s a shame. But… well, would you mind still showing us the place? You could sing for us then, it wouldn’t have to be an audition and you wouldn’t have to agree to anything, but I’d still love to hear you. Please?” the red head asks, popping the swizzle stick from her drink into her mouth and rolling it around with her tongue in a way that makes Sanji’s mouth go dry.

“Sure, tomorrow. Yes.” His mouth says without the permission of his brain.

“Wonderful, thank you!” She chirps happily, leaning over the bar to kiss him on the cheek before quite literally bouncing away from the bar.

“See you tomorrow Sanji, and don’t forget that drink for yourself.” The dark haired one purrs and slinks off after her friend whilst Sanji’s head spins.

“Bye.” He calls after them, feeling a little dazed.

He turns around to head down the bar to find some more customers only to come face to face with his old man Zeff’s impressive moustache right in his face.

“What was that all about?” The old man asks him, the moustache twitching judgementally at him.

“Nothing. They’re just coming to check out the venue tomorrow.” He shrugs, stepping back so his face isn’t right at facial hair level and he can look the old man in the eyes.

“It sounded more like an audition to me.” Zeff says flatly.

“Well, it wasn’t. They already have a singer.” He shrugs, not quite believing their story about this guitarist that only “sort of” sings. He nods at a guy ordering a Budweiser and he quickly pops the cap off of one and hands it over, exchanging the money in his head and quickly ringing through the rill.

“That’s not what I heard.” Zeff remarks from behind him.

“Well, if you know so much you shitty bastard, why are you asking me?” He challenges, shooting an evil look over his shoulder at the old man.

The old guy just huffs and serves two older guys wanting some European beers. Sanji sighs to himself and fulfils an order for a Jack Daniels and coke.

“Good luck with your audition, I guess.” Zeff says eventually.

“It’s not an audition, and I’m not going anywhere old man.” He snaps back irritably. As if he’d just leave this place and his old man, not after the guy taught him so much, helped turn him into the artist he is today. His old man even adopted him too, he’s not even Zeff’s kid and yet he owes him so much. Like hell he’d just leave him.

“Too bad. You should do something with your life, be happy.” Zeff states, looking piercingly at Sanji.

For a moment he finds himself pinned by his old man’s ice blue gaze, it’s faintly accusatory. A lot of people assume that he’s actually Zeff’s biological son, what with them both being blonde haired and blue eyed, but in reality the old guy’s death stare is proof enough for Sanji that there’s no way he’s related to that elderly psycho.

“I am doing something with my life right here, and I’m perfectly content thank you.” He answers back, finally able to make his mouth work again.

“Content isn’t the same as happy.” Zeff points out and limps off on his fake leg, leaving Sanji dazed and numb.

Right. Okay, that drink sounds like a really good idea now. He pours himself a generous double of whiskey, necks it and gets back to work. The bar is winding down now that the acts have finished and soon it’s last call.

It’s only when he’s flipping tables and sweeping the floor after everyone has gone that he realises that he forgot to ask those ladies what time they’d be coming by tomorrow. He groans and realises that it means that he’ll have to be here all day tomorrow.

 

He manages to get lots done the next day. He cleans all of the table and actually has an opportunity to give the nice wooden ones some beeswax polish to protect them from watermarks from the fuckers too inconsiderate enough to use coasters. He cleans the floor properly and realigns all of the audio equipment and then because it’s disgusting he cleans all of the equipment in the audio booth which appears to have been inhabited by some kind of gorilla, on a related note he must remember to kick Patty in the face next time he sees him. He’s partway through inventory when the front door to the bar opens and the pretty redhead from yesterday peeks through.

“Oh, come on in!” He calls out to her and ditches his notepad under the bar.

She smiles at him and walks inside, with her dark haired friend behind her. To his disappointment the rest of the band that walks in with her is all male, but Sanji realises that he can’t have everything in life.

They’re a pretty eclectic looking bunch actually. There’s a huge guy with bright blue hair and big star tattoos on his arms, who introduces himself as Franky and then tries to dislocate Sanji’s arm with an extremely enthusiastic handshake. There’s a bouncy looking dark haired guy who the beautiful red head (whose name is Nami) introduces as Luffy, she doesn’t need to tell him that he’s the drummer as by that point he’s already leapt up on stage and attacked the drum kit with an enthusiasm that makes Sanji’s ears ache. What does surprise him is that he’s apparently the front man of their band.

A very worn out looking guy with a long nose and curly dark hair chases the drummer, telling him not to break anything and please get down from that. That apparently is Usopp, who is a keyboard player for the band. Surprisingly they’ve got a little kid with them, the boy can’t be more than 14 and Sanji is actually a little uncomfortable around him. He has on comically oversized headphones and a giant pink hat.

“I’m Chopper, where’s your sound system? Oh, there.” The boy asks and then spots it, and scampers off to the area, immediately plugging himself in.

“He’s far more mature than he looks. You’re looking a little overwhelmed Sanji.” Robin says smoothly in his ear, making him jump.

“I don’t know, they’re all just very… lively.” He remarks, as from across the bar Nami screams at Luffy to stop climbing on the furniture and sit back down at the drums.

“They certainly are. They’re the best though.” Robin smiles secretively.

“What do you play?” He asks, looking up at her with adoration in his eyes.

“A little of this, a little of that. Violin and harp mainly. Not a lot of call for that in most of our songs but you’d be surprised where you can work it in, especially with an electric harp. Mainly though, I film.” Robin answers, pulling a video camera out of her bag and showing him. It’s a nice camera, Sanji doesn’t know enough about cameras to say more than that but it certainly looks expensive and high quality.

“Smile, and don’t mind me.” She says, turning it on and pointing it at him.

Sanji grins awkwardly, suddenly finding himself a little camera-shy.

“Oh-ho-ho! I suppose this means I get to play the electric guitar today instead of the piano!” An older guy trills with laugher from the stage. Sanji glances up, he wonders if this is the guitarist come singer that he’s concerned that Nami could be tricking him into replacing.

“Are you the guy who’s been singing?” He asks, coming up to the stage.

“Oh no, that would be Zoro. He’s our guitarist, but I’ve recently taken to playing though I’m usually on the piano. I’m not as good as him by far but I’m still capable, we try to make sure that I can fill in for him in case he’s sick or injured, I understand that you run a similar system here.” The older guy smiles down at him. He’s skeleton thin but he seems happy enough.

“Yeah, we do.” Sanji nods.

“Excellent. I’m Brook by the way.” The guy introduces himself, giving Sanji a bony yet polite handshake.

“Nami says that you can pick up music just by hearing it right away!” Luffy yells needlessly loudly from the drums. Sanji stares at him and wonders if there’s something wrong with his brain, he seems to be filled with the energy of about fifteen small children hopped up on red bull.

“More or less, usually I have a little bit of time, but yeah.” He answers with a reserved nod.

“THAT’S SO COOL!” Luffy sqawks.

“Shut up Luffy. Here, I brought the sheet music and the music like you talked about. Would you be so kind as to perform for us?” Nami smiles at him, handing him papers and an ipod.

Sanji sighs. Zeff was right, he’s been tricked into an audition. Still, it’ll be fun and these guys seem friendly enough. It’s not often he gets to goof off and just play for fun, he ought to do it.

“Sure thing.” He agrees and pulls the headphones around his neck up over one ear.

“Is this the one that you’re wanting?” He asks, switching on the little music player as he points to the top song.

“Yes, if you’d just sign this first though. It just says that you’re not going to take our music, just to protect us of course.” Nami says innocently, thrusting some paper before his eyes.

Sanji skims it very quickly, it seems to just say that he won’t steal their songs, which is a reasonable enough request given his abilities. He scribbles his signature on the end and she quickly pulls it away from him, folds it and shoves it inside her bra with a catlike smile.

“Yeah, you didn’t read that either did you? None of us did with things she got us to sign. I’m guessing that you did what we did and signed away your immortal soul to her, it’s usually the second to last clause.” Franky sighs from where he’s sat on stage with his bass guitar propped on one knee.

“Wait- what?” Sanji exclaims, looking around at Nami again.

“Too late, you really should read things better. Anyway! Back to the music, this one please!” Nami smiles and taps on the paper.

Figuring there’s nothing else to do for it Sanji just resigns himself to his apparently now soulless life and sits on the edge of the stage. The last thing he hears before he turns the noise cancelling on his headphones on is Usopp questioning whether anyone can really learn a song like that.

He selects the song on the player that matches the title at the top of the sheet music. “Lake Pontchatrain”.

He lets the music play and reads along as he listens. The first listen through is try to get into the feel of the song and to analyse the singer’s voice, only this time he doesn’t have to mimic the singer, he can put his own energy into it a little more.

The song is really… really freaking weird. It’s sort of a story, a horror story in fact. About a group of guys who go on a road trip and with the exception of the singer get hypnotised and drowned by some lake monster. It’s really odd but… it’s really fun as well, before the song is done he’s grinning his head off. The energy in the song is huge, it’s bouncing and fun and stupidly and deliberately melodramatic. The singer in the recording certainly has the power and gusto to pull it off, though his voice is a little unrefined and his range is somewhat limited. In short he’s not a singer but doing a damn good job of filling in. Pretty much what Nami said he was.

He rewinds the song once more and burns it into his brain for eternity. When he does this he never forgets a song, as much as he’s learnt some shitty songs over the years, he only needs to hear something once or twice before it’s in there forever. He’s memorised about nine billion radio jingles to the extent that he doesn’t even have a radio in his car anymore because knowing them drives him completely bonkers.

At the end of the second listen he slides the headphones off of his head and the world returns to him. He stands up to find the band curiously watching him.

“Two listens and that’s it? Seriously?” the keyboard guy asks him sceptically.

“I’m ready if you are.” He answers cockily.

“Super!” Franky exclaims and starts with the guitar.

Sanji turns around and faces the right way. As Franky plays the guitar intro and Luffy comes in on the drums he relaxes into the music and feels it flow along as he saw it on the sheet. He opens his mouth and sings.

 

“ _I'll tell it like it happened, it was Darius and Noland and me_

_Just a few po' boys trying to get up outta Missouri_

_Took 55 to Louisiana, stopped by the highway to eat”_

 

The guitar for the song is pretty cool and very much his kind of thing. He’s not fussy about the music he sings on stage- in his job he can’t be, but he always enjoys the opportunity to sing something that he’d listen to for fun.

 

“ _They both had crawfish, strictly chicken for me_

_Back out under thunderheads, the radio was southern soul_

_They interrupted Clarence Carter with a strange-ass local show_

_They were sayin'_

 

_Come down to Lake Pontchartrain_

_Rest your soul and feed your brain_

_That's where you will get to see_

_Everything the water can be”_

 

He can feel the others getting behind the song now, perhaps feeling that he’s not going to screw this up. Nami and Robin watch him from their places by the sound area with smiles on their faces, he continues unbroken.

 

“ _The rain was comin' down, the wind was howlin' outside of Slidell_

_It was the kinda night that makes you think the whole world's goin' to hell_

_We got off on an exit 'cause we couldn't read the map so great_

_Near the Choctaw Motel, we parked to deliberate_

 

_When out of the bayou came a man like the lake had a tongue_

_He was right up on the glass, all yellow eyed_

_Black teeth, bangin' on the windshield_

_Screamin' like a demon at the top of his lungs”_

 

As he predicted when he was listening to it, his voice handles the pitch change there just fine without catching as the recorded guy’s voice had. The recording had the others come in now and as he continues, they join in for the rather spooky chorus. Sanji’s in time perfectly and their voices all merge together as if they’d sung it a thousand times.

 

“ _Come down to Lake Pontchartrain_

_Rest your soul and feed your brain_

_Free for you and all your friends_

_Crawfish 'til the bitter end_

 

_Come down to Lake Pontchartrain_

_Wade to where the shallows break_

_That's where you will get to see_

_Everything the water can be”_

 

He has to fight down the grin, knowing it’ll affect his voice. But it’s hard because he’s actually having a blast. The song might be weird as balls but damn if it isn’t FUN. The song picks back up with him on his own again.

 

“ _I was driving out of there as fast as a Camry could_

_But the interstate was flooded and I had to take the road through the woods_

_Bad move in retrospect, the road disappeared in the rain_

_And I stood on the brakes when I saw the sign “Lake Pontchartrain”_

 

_Darius was yelling that he saw somebody out in the swells_

_He jumped out runnin' and Noland was goin' as well_

_Come back! Why the hell would they leave the car?_

_And that's when I heard it, make no mistake_

_The voices were calling them from under the lake”_

 

And here Sanji really gets to show off some of his range and how easily he can change notes, it’s a nice chance to sing with the rest of the band, although his natural volume is somewhat overpowering them so he tries to dial it back a little. Soon though, that bit ends and they’re back to repeating the same creepy crazy line again.

 

“ _Come down to Lake Pontchartrain_

_Come down to Lake Pontchartrain_

_Come down to Lake Pontchartrain_

_Come down to Lake Pontchartrain_

 

_The crawfish were screaming, the waves danced in time_

_My friends went in deeper, the water had climbed_

_I watched in terror, the lake opened wide_

_And horribly roaring, it pulled them inside_

 

_That's how it happened, why would I lie?_

_There were no bodies, I've got none to hide_

_I'm just a boy, lost his friends in the rain_

_Any more questions, just go and ask Lake Pontchartrain!”_

 

He finishes the song with a dramatic energetic flair that he simply couldn’t resist. Nami and Robin cheer and applaud and there’s an enthusiastic “super!” from behind him.

“I’m amazed that you managed to do that from only hearing it just now.” The tall thin guy says with an impressed nod.

“So COOL!” Luffy bounces from behind the drumset.

The guy at the keyboard however is just staring at him thoughtfully, his eyes run over him assessing him and sizing him up. Sanji juts his jaw defiantly, if this guy didn’t like him he can get bent, Sanji’s sure he can’t do any better or they wouldn’t need a singer at all.

“I think this guy’s better than Zoro, by a good margin too. This… this could work.” He says after a moment.

“You think Zoro will like him?” The drummer asks excitedly, attacking the drum set with energy again. The long nosed keyboard player winces at the noise, and when Luffy’s stopped he speaks again.

“Nah, Zoro’s gonna _hate_ him. But he’ll respect him, he’s got no ego and this guy here is more than good enough for Zoro to know the difference.” Usopp remarks, flicking a glance Sanij’s way. That raises Sanji’s hackles, they’re all talking about him like he’s not even there!

“You’re all acting like I’ve agreed to something I’ve not.” He points out flatly.

“Join my band!” Luffy yells from the drum kit, his big earnest grin showing around the symbols as he bounces in his seat.

“Luffy’s enthusiasm aside, we really would like to offer you the spot Sanji, you’re very talented.” Nami says, looking up at him from the bottom of the stage. Sanji shakes his head and jumps off of the stage, landing next to her.

“I appreciate the offer, but I really can’t. And I didn’t actually agree to audition, I was supposed to be showing you the venue, but I suspect that’s not why you came here my flower.” He smiles at her.

“You did agree to it being an audition actually, like I said, you should read the things you sign a little more carefully.” Nami grins at him, tugging at the edge of the page that he signed where it sits tucked in her bra. To his credit his nose doesn’t start bleeding at the jiggle that movement causes, though only just.

“Even so, I’m afraid I simply can’t accept, I’m needed here.” He apologises sadly.

“No you’re not.”

The voice makes him jump and Sanji turns to see his old man standing behind the bar, regarding him with a stiff look. Sanji scowls and turns to face him.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m needed here.” He challenges, folding his arms. There’s no way that Zeff could ever replace him and the old man is family to him, it’s not like he ever would anyway.

“Pft. You think you’re the only one in the world who can sing? We have other staff who can do the job.” Zeff says sternly. His words are like a smack in the face to Sanji. Sure he can think of a few of the other guys here who like to sing but they’re not really singers. There’s a huge difference from being able to sing and being a singer.

“No way, and even if they can none of them can pick up songs as quick as me, you need me!” He argues, not willing to admit the sting of his old man not thinking that he’s better than those other guys. Even if he doesn’t want to admit it, he does feel it in his chest, that tiny part of him that always wants so much for his old man to be proud of him is recoiling away from the idea that Zeff doesn’t think what he does it worth enough to keep him.

“I don’t need you. In fact, you ought to accept that job because you don’t have one here anymore, you’re fired.” The old man says.

Sanji actually staggers back in shock at that. Fired? What?

WHAT?!

“YOU CAN’T FIRE ME!” He yells loud enough to make the glasses on the other side of the room rattle.

“I already have, now take the job.” Zeff orders, turning his gaze to Nami who is watching with interest.

“Look, I get what you’re trying to do old man,” he says through gritted teeth, “but you can’t just expect me to join up with the first band that offers. I barely know these guys, and I’m pretty sure that they’re not even from this city. How would I even play with them if I live so far away? It doesn’t work.”

“You’re right. Get your shit, I’m kicking you out. You’re nineteen now, I don’t have to put up with your mooching here for free anymore. Go rent a place on your own, near the band you’re in. Get out.” Zeff says back, obviously entirely serious.

Sanji’s head is swimming. He takes two numb steps towards his old man, but the shitty geezer’s gaze doesn’t get any more forgiving, it’s hard and angry. What’s he done to deserve this? What did he do that was so bad? He can’t think of anything.

“You’re kicking me out? But… I’m your son.” He says in a small wounded voice, looking up at the only father that he’s ever known.

“My son wouldn’t just fritter his life away in some bar, coasting through on a job he could do in his sleep whilst his dream passes him by. You’re no son of mine. Take the job, move out and I might not bar you from the place as well.” Zeff snarls ruthlessly at him.

Sanji is close enough now that only the bar itself is separating them. He’s shaking inside, pulling himself apart at the seams as all he’s ever loved is being taken from him. He loves his old man, even if they argue all the time, he loves this bar and- fuck it, he loves the people he works with too. This place is _home_ to him, how can Zeff do this?

“Zeff please, this isn’t just some bar. It’s your dream, it’s my home. I love it here, please…” He whispers, his heart breaking in his chest.

“It’s my dream, now get your own and get out. Useless kid.” Zeff growls in his face and turns and stalks out of the room, leaving Sanji feeling like he’s going to die.

The only sound that Sanji can hear in the bar is his own heartbeat in his ears.

“I suppose that this might be a good time to mention that there’s a room with the job too, free as part of your contract.” Nami pipes up quietly from behind him.

Sanji breaks into a run, dashing around the bar so fast his feet skid on the floor and he slides into the edge of the bar, jarring his hip as he knocks it. He sprints around the corner into the back that Zeff left through. He runs up the stairs two at a time, panic humming in his veins like a nest of bees. He doesn’t even make it to the top before a suitcase smacks him in the chest. He catches it roughly only to be hit in the face by two empty duffle bags.

“Please, you’re not serious.” He pleads, climbing the last few stairs and looking desperately at Zeff.

“Get out. Pack your shit and go, don’t let me see you again until you’ve achieved something.” The old man growls as he turns and walks off into his own room, slamming the door after him.

Sanji stands frozen at the top of the stairs. Part of him wants to chase Zeff down, to bang on his door and beg him not to do this. But no. He won’t do that. He’s begged enough and if that bastard of a father of his- no, he’s not his father, if he doesn’t want him anymore then Sanji’s not going to stay. He doesn’t want to hang around being a disappointment to that shrivelled up talentless old shitbag. The only reason that he has the Baratie is because his band died before they made it to the top and Zeff never went for it again. They say those who can’t do, teach. Well in this case those who can’t do start music venues up for those who can. Well fuck him.

Sanji blinks repeatedly and storms into his room, cursing his hay fever, never mind that it’s October because _that’s_ why his eyes are watering, nothing else. He grabs his things and throws them into bags and suitcases, stuffing clothes and shoes in together, not caring for once if things get scrunched up. He wraps his laptop in his hoodie and shoves it in his suitcase, throwing chargers and his toothbrush in after it. He curses the tightness in his throat and grits his teeth hard as he lets himself get truly angry.

How could that bastard do this to him? He’d thought that he’d cared but clearly he was fucking WRONG. God fucking damnit, this hay fever was making his eyes water. Smoking would cure that. He lights up and draws the calming nicotine into his lungs, the only man had always told him to quit, told him it’d ruin his voice. Well, he hadn’t listened to him then and he certainly wasn’t going to listen to the treacherous old shit head now was he?

He hefts his bags up, desperate to get out of his too small room and this bar and his life. He just needs to go. He all but runs down the stairs, bags over his shoulder and suitcase in hand.

“Geez Nami, you just made a guy homeless so he’d join. I know he’s amazing but that’s still pretty unethical.” Franky’s voice floats up to him as he comes down the last few steps.

“That’s not my fault.” Nami huffs.

“You didn’t exactly stop it.” The long nosed keyboardist points out as Sanji comes back out into the bar.

“I’ll join. You mentioned that there was a room.” Sanji says quickly, looking right at Nami.

The redhead smiles slowly and broadly.

“I did. We’d love to have you, I’ve got a contract here and ready for you.” She smiles, pulling it out of the jacket she’s since put on.

“Can I sign it on the way? I want to get out of here.” He asks, feeling suddenly claustrophobic in this place.

This time the red-head’s face is sympathetic. He doesn’t blame her for this whole mess, he’d never be so callous as to accuse a lady of such a thing, but all the same she looks as if she feels a little bad for his predicament.

“Sure thing. Usopp can drive you or if you have your own car Franky can ride with you and give you directions.” Nami offers.

“Quit just offering my car out.” Usopp mutters irritably, glaring at Nami from behind his keyboard case.

“I’ve got my own car, you okay to show me where to go?” He asks, flicking a look at the blue haired guy.

“Yeah. You want to get out of here now?” the other guy asks, shoving his sunglasses up his nose a little more.

“Do I ever.” Sanji mutters, leading the way and stomping out of the building. He resists the temptation to kick the door shut after himself as that would be rather childish and stroppy, but damn if he doesn’t wanna kick the shit out of something right now.

He heads around the back of the bar to where his car is and throws his stuff in the back. The blue haired giant of a man follows him and carefully slides his electric bass guitar into the back and then gets in the front passenger seat.

“Left out of here and just follow the signs out towards Syrup, you know it?” Franky asks as Sanji turns the engine on and peels out of the car park.

He nods, he does know it. Syrup is a medium sized town on the outskirts of the city, not small but not huge either, just average. From what Sanji’s seen driving through the place it has average bars, average people and average everything. He’d never seen himself living in a place like that, he’s always thought of himself as a city guy, but then he’d always assumed he’d stay at the Baratie. Wrong.

His knuckles are white on the wheel as he grips it hard. He grinds his teeth on his cigarette and drives in silence.

“Hey, listen. I know Nami can be a bit manipulative but she didn’t know anything like that was going to happen. But she’s used to getting what she wants and if she gets to help you out and get the singer she wants… well, she’s not going to say no. I just don’t want you to think badly of her, her heart’s in the right place most of the time.” Franky says after a little while, with a sidelong look at him around his sunglasses.

Sanji peels his grip off of the wheel and ties to relax, rolling his shoulders out to try to ease some of the tension hiding there. He sighs a big smoky sigh into the air.

“I didn’t think she had planned that or anything. I’m just pissed at my old man doing that to me.” Sanji answers, crushing the butt of the cigarette into the ash tray in the car dash and lighting up another one handed.

“That was a pretty rough thing to do but… well, I get the impression that he thought he was doing it for your own good. I’m not sure that’s how you go about doing that but… well, I don’t know man. You know him better than me, I’m just guessing. Sorry you had to go through that either way.” The other man offers him in a weak consolation.

 

Sanji inhales and lets the smoke float in his lungs for a little before breathing it out through his nose. He changes lanes and thinks a little. He doesn’t know if Zeff was really doing that so he could chase his dream, but he’s too mad to think straight about it, so he’s better off just not.

“Tell me a little more about this band of yours… or… ours. I don’t even know the name.” He says eventually, looking across to his passenger.

“We’re the Strawhats.” Franky says simply. Sanji refrains from saying that’s a dumbass name, but he thinks it really fucking loudly.

“I suppose we’ve been together a little over a year, but we were all in another band before that. Technically _this_ band has never had a singer, but the band that we were _all_ in before this one did.” The other man continues as Sanji drives along the road.

“So I am replacing someone.” He states flatly. He knew it, goddamnit. At least it’s not someone who’s currently there though, it sounds like they’ve been gone for a year, which is a little odd.

“Eh. Not really, and I wouldn’t think of it like that, the singer left and we reformed as something new. But… well… I know the others won’t want to talk about it, and don’t bring it up if you can help it. But I don’t like the idea of you walking in totally blind, as much as Nami might want you to.” Franky says, pushing his sunglasses up into his coiffed blue hair.

“If you actually read that big ass contract that Nami’s given you, you’ll see that there’s a whole load of standard stuff in there. You know, you agree to practice regularly, to a fair share of money we make from gigs, to show up at performances sober and not screw up. Usual stuff. But there’s also a bit in there that whilst you’re entitled to any royalties from any songs you write, you can’t take the songs themselves with you if you leave and that all practice sessions are recorded.” The bassist explains.

“That sounds a little odd.” Sanji frowns. It must be weird getting recorded all the time, even if they’re just running through songs for practicing. He’s never actually _been_ in a band before but he’s sure that’s not normal.

“Yeah. Three guesses as to what your predecessor did.” The other man says flatly, sounding agitated. Sanji glances over at the other man, who by the way is wearing the teeniest hot pants ever despite it being fucking winter, looks uncomfortable and irritable. It’s not exactly psychic of Sanji for him to tell that this is clearly a sore subject with the other man, it seems like the singer before him really did leave on bad terms.

“I don’t know, what?” He asks, curiously.

“ _She_ stole about 80 percent of our songs and walked right out into a music deal that she got for taking them. Because nothing had been officially written down as to who wrote them and because that label had bags of money there was nothing we could do. We could have gone to court but we don’t have the money for it and we’d lose, among other things. Hence the thesaurus length contract on your bag, if you write songs with us and leave you’ll still get paid for them but nothing else.” Franky says, jerking his thumb at the back of the car. Sanji flicks his gaze to the rear view mirror and indeed sees that the contract Franky’s mentioning is seriously about dictionary thick.

“She? It was a woman?” He questions after a moment, making the other man roar with laughter.

“Oh man, out of all that I just told you that’s what you took from it?” Franky guffaws, his black mood seeming to lift.

“Well I could tell you that’s it’s a shitty thing to do to someone but you already know that. And I could say that I’ve no intention of screwing you guys over, but then again someone who did would say that too, so it’s meaningless to say. I’m just interested in the fact that it’s a woman I’m taking over from, if you’re all geared up to write for a female voice don’t you think you might have made the wrong choice?” He frowns as he slows down for a junction.

“Nah, bro. Zoro’s our main writer and the songs she took with her he either wrote with her or for her, we don’t have ‘em anymore and frankly it wasn’t his best work. What we got to keep were the cool songs like the one you just did. They’re ones that Zoro and Usopp wrote together and that Zoro would sing and hey, you’ve already proved that you can do that and better, that’s what we want.” Franky smiles encouragingly at him.

Sanji chews at his cigarette as he drives, he doesn’t know what this band is actually going to be like. He’s only heard just one of their songs and whilst they all seem like nice people he’s got no idea what they’re really like. And to top it all off he doesn’t have much of a choice but to join up since his old man just kicked him out. What the hell happened to his day? Where did everything go so weird?

“Oh, just down here, then up the hill.” Franky points out to him.

“This is all really sudden, I think I’m in shock here. That way?” He asks at the end, pointing up a long road.

“Yeah man, we’re that one at the very top. Big long ass driveway, blue door. We all share the place, it’s just easier for weird unsociable practice hours, and it makes it harder to lose Zoro.” The man laughs, pointing the house out to him.

Sanji whistles as he pulls towards it, it’s a huge house with about four stories and massive lawns on either side around it. The building is incredibly impressive and could easily be called a mansion. Unless music has started paying people a lot more than they used to at the level below performing at the Baratie then something is up here. Perhaps one of them is filthy rich. Still, it’s not a bad step up from his current status of homeless.

There’s a big garage to the side with easily enough space for four or five cars, so seeing as he can, he pulls into it. He drops out of gear and puts his handbrake on and then turns the car off. He still feels slightly dazed.

“Looks like you drive pretty fast when you’re wound up, we got here before everyone else.” Franky remarks, hopping out of the car and walking to the back to get his guitar out.

Sanji follows his lead and opens the back door to grab his bags.

“Nami’s probably gonna want this signed when she gets here so…” The guy trails off, handing Sanji’s sizeable contract to him.

He hefts it in his hands. He supposes it’s not too late to back out, he could say he’s changed his mind, give the contract back to Franky and drive off. He could stay in a hotel whilst he tries to find a new job and a place to live. But… well… being in a band and making it to All Blue is his dream, and they’re offering him somewhere to live upfront and do what he enjoys doing. If he hates them and the place then he can always leave but he owes it to himself to take a shot at his dream, that’ll show that old coot.

He flicks through the contract, spotting the bits that Franky had pointed out on the ride over here, including the odd clause about consenting to be filmed by the band whenever, and that all practice sessions will be recorded. It also seems like whenever he’s working on anything musical he has to be in the studio to do it. Whatever. He flicks to the last page and signs where he’s asked to. He hands it back to Franky who beams happily at him.

“Super! Nami will probably have keys and junk for you but the least I can do is show you your room, there’s only one left in this building that’s free.” Franky says, grabbing one of Sanji’s bags as Sanji grabs the other two.

As his hot pants wearing guide is unlocking the front door, a van pulls up and parks next to him. Sanji vaguely remembers seeing it outside of the Baratie but he was too furious about Zeff to really pay attention. Luffy bounces out of an open window like some overexcited puppy and bounds over to them.

“You signed right? You’re really in the band! I knew it!” Luffy chatters gleefully, grabbing the signed contract from Sanji’s hand and doing a pointless victory lap of the garage.

“Is he always-” Sanji begins.

“YES.” Franky groans and shoulders the door open.

“I can’t see Zoro’s bike anywhere, I guess he’s out. He doesn’t have work does he?” Usopp frowns, climbing out of the driver’s seat of the van and dropping to the floor.

“He didn’t mention it, and it’s not on the schedule if he did. But I suppose they could have called him in last minute.” Robin muses as she gets out the van with Nami.

“Well, good. It’ll give Sanji more time to settle in before- oh, thanks Luffy. Hey, did you chew on this contract?” Nami frowns, looking after Luffy who has already hurled himself in the back of the van with a clatter of cymbals.

Sanji decides to leave the ladies to that and follows Franky inside the building. Once he steps inside the door there’s a big fancy entranceway with rooms branching off it on either side, in the middle of the room is a sweeping staircase that leads up to the next floor. It looks like something out of a fancy English castle almost, with red carpeting running up the stairs.

“Okay, we’ll give you a proper tour later, but the studio is down in the basement, you get to it through there.” Franky says, gesturing to a door set into the wall by the staircase that dominates the hallway.

“How can you guys afford this place? It’s huge.” Sanji wonders aloud as they climb the stairs.

“Well, it was in a bit of a state when I got here and my brother runs a construction company. The land and the original building had been given to Usopp by his… well, she’s his fiancée now but then she was his girlfriend. So, my brother and I did the place up with everything that we’d ever need, mainly from things that were left over from other projects so it was free or super cheap. Because we don’t pay rent for the building or a mortgage or anything the only costs that we have are the bills and maintaining the place, and like I said, my brother runs a construction company.” Franky explains with a grin.

“And exactly how rich is Usopp’s other half if she can afford to give him a place like this?” he asks, as Franky leads him up the second floor and up another set of stairs.

“Stupidly well off. Old money, you know?” the other man answers with a laugh and heads up another set of stairs.

Sanji adjusts the bag on his shoulder, he hadn’t planned on climbing quite so many stairs, but they keep climbing!

“Your room is in the loft, it means it’s really big but you gotta go up a lot of stairs to get there. It’ll be quiet too, you’ll just have Zoro across the way and you only have to share a bathroom with him. And believe me, if you lived on my floor and had to share a bathroom with Nami or Robin you’d appreciate not having to wait for hours.” Franky grumbles. They head up the last set of stairs and into the loft space.

There’s a bare wooden floor underfoot and a wide arched window at the other end, it opens slightly at the bottom and there’s a slight breeze blowing the curtains. Franky turns to his right and opens the door and heads into the room. With a relieved sigh the tall (and mostly pantless man) drops Sanji’s bags just inside the door.

The room is big and airy with a surprisingly high gabled ceiling, which even at it’s lowest point is comfortably above Sanji’s head height and at it’s highest is well above what Sanji could reach even standing on any of the furniture in here. The room is painted almost entirely white, except for the dark ceiling beams and the bare beech wood floorboards. There’s a bare mattress on a large bed which has to be king-size at least and desk across the other side of the room. Other than that the room is empty. It feels a little lonely to Sanji, he’s used to his cramped little room above the Baratie that he’s had since he was a little kid, and it hadn’t been a big room when he was small either. To suddenly go to a place this big just highlights how far from his home he really is.

“Okay, you’ve got that bathroom through that door there. There’s a door that leads to Zoro’s in there so I’d lock both unless you wanna introduce yourself pretty awkwardly!” Franky laughs loudly, the sound echoing in the Spartan room.

“Where is this mythical guitarist anyway? How come he wasn’t at the audition?” Sanji asks. The question had been bothering him for some time, and he’d initially thought that perhaps this Zoro fellow really was the singer for this band and he was being tricked into replacing _him_. He’d dropped that idea when he found about his mysterious lady predecessor, although that was another mystery he was dying to solve.

“Zoro? Who knows man, he’s a bit of a mystery. Half time I swear he just wanders off and gets lost, he does when he’s out with us anyhow. He’ll show up sooner or later. Anyhow, I’ll let you get settled.” Franky says and, with a wave, disappears from Sanji’s new room.

Sanji looks numbly around the room and after a few moments he walks over to the bed and drops down onto it. What the hell is happening to him? He pulls his feet up onto the bedframe and lifts his hips so that he can get his phone out of his pocket. There’s no calls or messages from Zeff or anyone else at the Baratie, no emails either.

He scrolls through his phonebook until he comes to the old man’s number. He bites his lip as his pride snarls at him, like hell is he going to call that old bastard after he’s just abandoned him like that! If he doesn’t care then Sanji doesn’t care either. Shitty excuse for a father!

With that Sanji launches himself to his feet and throws himself into the job of unpacking his stuff. He finds places for his clothes and settles his laptop on the desk, he settles his shoes in the corner and arranges the few hastily packed books into a little pile. When he’s done that he puts his bags in the back of a wardrobe and straightens everything out.

He heads outside of his new room and is about to descend the stairs when a noise makes him stop and tilt his head to listen. It’s a voice. He pauses, one foot halfway to the stair below.

“ _And it feel so wrong,_

_to sing this song,_

_but maybe you’ll hear me,_

_somehow, and hum along.”_ The muffled voice sings.

Sanji’s eyes widen, he knows that voice. It’s the voice from the recording, it’s a different song sure but it’s certainly him. He knows it’s not a recording because there’s no music but it’s him. He steps silently to the door and listens more.

“ _Maybe you’ll be kidnapped by pirates,_

_And they’ll take you to their hideout,_

_As pirates often do.”_

Sanji holds his breath and leans on the door, it’s open so it swings in silently, letting Sanji peek around the edge.

The place is the same size as his room and a perfect mirror in structure, except for the fact that it looks like several wardrobes have just exploded over everything. There are t-shirts and jeans flung over every surface and boots littering the floor. In the middle of the room sits a green haired guy who looks to be about Sanji’s age. He’s sat on the floor in front of an upturned bicycle with tools in his hands, he’s singing along quietly to himself as he does something to one of the wheels with a wrench.

“ _But I would find the secret map,_

_And I would vigilante bushwhack,_

_Through the jungles of Peru._

 

_Just to save you and I’d take you North to Mexico,_

_And you could tell me your life story,_

_on the steps of a Mayan temple,_

_where we’d camp,_

_singing nonsense songs and-”_ The green haired guy suddenly cuts off, his body jolting and his head suddenly snapping around to look wide eyed at Sanji. He realises that he’s actually taken a step into the guy’s room, hypnotised as he was by the strange tale being sung.

The green haired guy yelps and flings the wrench in the direction of Sanji’s head, making him cry out and duck.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to just barge in!” He apologises hastily, backing away. He eyes the dent in the wall left by the wrench and is exceedingly glad that it wasn’t his face that it just hit.

“Who the HELL are you?! What are you doing in my house?!” the green haired guy yells furiously, leaping to his feet and advancing threateningly on Sanji.

“I’m Sanji! Franky brought me here!” He explains hastily, backing out into the hallway.

“Well why the hell are you in my room?!” the other guy snarls angrily.

“I didn’t- sorry! I just heard you singing and I thought I should introduce myself but then I didn’t want to interrupt so-” he continues.

“Why would I care who you are? Stay out of my room!” The guy snaps at him and turns to head back into his room.

“I just thought that since I’m the singer I should say hi at least!” He says back defensively.

That makes the green haired guy stop in his tracks. He stands completely still for a good couple of seconds before he turns around, slowly now and looks at Sanji with one eye twitching slightly tensely.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t have heard you right. What did you just say?” The guy asks him, sounding a lot less angry but certainly no calmer, if anything he sounds tenser.

“I… I auditioned today, signed a contract and everything. I’m the new singer.” He answers warily.

The green haired guy’s entire face seems to twitch.

“NAMI! GET YOUR ASS UP HERE YOU CONNIVING WITCH!” The guy screams at the top of his lungs, as he thunders down the stairs onto the floor below.

“OI! ASSHOLE! Don’t shout for her like that! Have some manners!” Sanji snaps reflexively, chasing after the guy. Nami might be a little underhanded from what Sanji’s seen of her but it’s no reason to scream like that or to insult her so!

“You stay out of this swirl-face!” The guy snarls, jabbing a finger in his direction.

“Not if you’re gonna act like a psycho, you Neanderthal!” he argues back, smacking the finger out of his face. The other guy turns and glares up at him from where Sanji stands on the last few steps before the floor below.

“Look, get your shit and go because there ‘aint no singing job here. If that witch tricked you then that’s your fault but get your scrawny ass out!” the guy orders him.

“Oh, there’s a job. Don’t you go anywhere Sanji, I’ve got your contract safe and sound.” Nami says silkily as she makes her way around the corner.

“I don’t _need_ a singer! I’ve got this under control, we’re _fine_. Tear up that contract now!” the guy shouts, his fists clenching tightly at his sides.

“Not your call Zoro, it’s mine and Luffy’s. Deal with it.” Nami states firmly, stepping up to Zoro and standing her ground.

“Why you!” Zoro snaps, grabbing the front of her shirt.

Now, Sanji’s not known for his self-restraint, however his ability to let shit slide rapidly approaches zero when someone threatens a woman in his presence. So he regrets nothing and he snaps his foot right through Zoro’s wrist, breaking his hold on Nami. He leaps between the two of them and shoves the other guy back with his foot.

“Don’t you dare grab her like that!” He shouts protectively.

“You stay out of this!” The green haired guy yells at him. Well, if this is going to get into a screaming match Sanji would bet any amount of money that he can scream louder, he’s not met anyone yet that can force more power out of their lungs than he can.

“Over my dead BODY!” He shouts back, louder than Zoro.

“THAT CAN BE ARRANGED!” The manhandling ape yells back, upping the volume.

“TRY ME, COWARD!” He bellows even louder again.

Instead of fighting verbally though this guy, probably sensing that he’s outmatched, simply swings for Sanji’s face with his fist. Sanji brings his leg up to block and then kicks out, shoving the guy firmly into his range. He grew up in a bar for god sake, he’s been fighting almost his entire life.

The asshole apparently doesn’t know when he’s beat though and lunges for him again. This time it’s a little quicker and he manages to catch Sanji by the collar and slam him into a wall. Sanji grounds himself with one foot and twists the other leg around the guy’s arm, snapping his grip and kicking him forcefully into the opposing wall. He flicks a follow up kick out but his attacker ducks and throws a punch which Sanji manages to dodge.

Going for broke the guy flings himself at Sanji and it’s only when Sanji has sidestepped that he realises it was a trick as the punk-haired bastard throws out his arm and clotheslines Sanji to the ground. Then it becomes a grappling match of punches, knees and swearing.

A pair of hands rip the other guy up off of him and another pair haul Sanji back on his ass so that he doesn’t kick the savage dick in the face. It’s Franky who’s got him in an arm lock and Luffy and Usopp who are holding Zoro back.

“I’m good, I’m good.” He mutters, relaxing his arm so that Franky lets him go. He dusts off his shirt and scowls at the other guy. His opponent however seems to have no such sensible qualms and is snarling at the drummer. The rest of the band has appeared on the floor now, all watching the conflict with wide worried eyes.

“-the hell are you doing?! Bringing in this psychopath, we don’t need him! I hate him!” Zoro snarls at Luffy.

“We need him and he’s not going anywhere, I’ve made my decision.” Luffy says seriously. The green haired bastard snatches his arm back and turns to face Luffy full on.

“Why?!” he demands. Sanji might be wrong but he could swear that the guy almost sounds a little wounded.

“It’s best.” Luffy nods.

“Usopp, you’re in on this too? How could you?!” he asks, turning to the long nosed keyboard player. Usopp looks hugely uncomfortable and just averts his eyes.

“Well fuck all of you.” Zoro snarls and storms off down the stairs. Usopp tries to go after him but Luffy holds him back and shakes his head.

“So much for good first impressions.” Sanji mutters, feeling his cheeks flush. It’s hardly the great first impression that he wanted to give his new bandmates, it doesn’t exactly paint him as easy to get along with.

“I’ve never seen anyone give Zoro back as good as they got, it was rather interesting to see.” Robin muses from the bannister, her smile coy and catlike.

“Well he grabbed Nami, I had to intervene.” Sanji frowns, straightening his shirt out.

“Zoro’s all bark and no bite, he’d never hurt me. He was just showing me how pissed off he was. Bastard.” Nami scowls, glaring down the stairs that Zoro left through.

“That’s still not okay. Are you alright?” Sanji asks worriedly as he looks over at Nami.

“I’m fine. Still… it’s going to be interesting for Zoro to deal with you. When we’ve tried to hire singers before he’s just intimidated the shit out of them or deliberately been impossible to work with, none of them have even got through the audition. But you… I think you could have survived that. Anyway, you’re not going anywhere my dear, and Zoro’s just going to have to deal with that.” Nami grins, patting Sanji’s cheek and making his heart flutter.

She flashes him a sneaky grin and returns to her room, the rest of the band going their separate ways. The fluttering in Sanji’s chest fades leaving him only with the dead certainty that he loathes this Zoro guy and he’s probably hate his shitty guts until the day he dies.  


	2. Chapter 2

Sanji’s favourite show when he was a little kid was Scooby Doo. He liked solving mysteries and (as he grew up a little) thought the best thing ever would be to do so with two lovely ladies like Velma and Daphne by his side. Unfortunately everyone has to grow up sooner or later but it doesn’t mean that Sanji doesn’t enjoy the opportunity to do a little detective work now and then. 

He had two mysteries to solve, firstly, who was the previous singer and why did she leave on such bad terms? And two (though he accepts that this one may never be solved) why is Zoro such a bastard?

To keep him occupied whilst he sleuths he’s cycling through the entire recorded body of the band’s work on his phone, Chopper stopped by not long after his altercation with Zoro to give him the files. It seems that the incredibly shy kid is the one responsible for recording all of their songs. He seems to be the keeper of the written versions too as he’d dropped those off. Most of their stuff seems to be in slightly smudged handwriting, and with his awesome detective powers works out that whoever wrote most of this stuff down is left handed from the smudges. 

There do seem to be a few other people’s handwriting in there too, some are just notes and linger near their own music. The scratchy handwriting that’s near the bass music sheets must be Franky’s and the spidery notes are probably Brook’s. There seems to be handwriting that’s flowing, a strong contrast to the main writing as it’s elegant and all in black ink, this writing seems to mainly serve to cross out or alter the original writing underneath it. He sqints through it and thinks that he likes the original wording more often than he likes the corrections. He’d bet anything that the flowing black writing belongs to the violent and overdramatic punk-haired bastard. 

As usual he’s run through the lyrics on the paper whilst listening, just to make sure he has the words right. He only really needs to do that the once though so now he’s free to do other things as he just listens and lets the words and melodies sink nicely into his head while he’s being sneaky.

He starts as all good detectives who aren’t getting paid for their work do, on Google, shortly followed by Wikipedia. It wasn’t hard to backtrack through the article on The Strawhats to their previous band, Going Merry. After briefly wondering how these guys can come up with the oddest fucking names ever he delves into the article. 

_Going Merry split up on November 11_ _th_ _2011 during a gig at_ _ Loguetown _ _not long before they were scheduled to start performing along the_ _ Grand Line _ _. The band’s lead singer_ _ Baby _ _left after a violent altercation [1] with the lead guitarist_ _ Roronoa Zoro _ _which also marked the end of their relationship._

Sanji’s eyebrows raise. So what then, Zoro was in a relationship with the last singer? No wonder he was tetchy about the job then. Curiously Sanji clicks on the link in the article and finds youtube opening up in a video. He unplugs himself from the band’s music and instead plugs himself into his laptop, wary that youtube doesn’t decide to have the volume cranked up and blast his eardrums out of his head- he hates it when that happens. 

The video itself is of a pretty shitty quality, clearly taken on someone’s phone. It looks to be shot in some kind of bar, pointing to the stage. He already recognises figures of his new bandmates, they’re a pretty odd looking bunch after all. He can’t quite place the bar and he knows most of them in the area, but it does look familiar. The video cuts into halfway through the dark haired female singer speaking into the mic on stage.

“-this will be our last performance and-” She says and turns to Zoro. The slightly younger but still green-haired guitarist shakes his head vehemently and slides a white guitar over his head, handing it off to a wide eyed Franky. 

Zoro grabs her arm and pulls her back away from the mic slightly. That action alone raises Sanji’s hackles, it’s too much like Zoro manhandling Nami earlier, that brute. 

He’s talking urgently to the dark haired singer but Sanji simply can’t make out what either of them are saying. He can see that Zoro is practically begging her though, his body language and his face all broadcast an air of “please no” to the world. The dark haired woman looks angrier and angrier by the second though and steps forward, jabbing the green haired guy in the chest forcefully. Zoro steps back with his eyes shut while she shouts something unclear at him. 

“Chose!” He manages to make out her saying, if only for the hush it causes to ripple through the crowd in the video. 

She snarls something else angrily that Sanji can’t catch, though she’s gesturing to the other band members. Zoro reaches for her, grabbing her arm and pulling her close, but she shoves him back off of her. The two stare at each other for a second or two before Zoro shakes his head. 

There’s a beat before the singer’s face goes from shocked to furiously angry. She moves in a blur, then there’s a loud crack and Zoro’s head snaps to the side, his body bending over towards the crowd. Zoro’s hand is at his face and from the way that the singer is standing Sanji can tell that she just slapped him as hard as she possibly could. 

Sanji’s eyes are about ready to pop out of his head. Talk about a messy public breakup. Zoro’s eyes flicker open and he pulls his hand from his face to show a decent stream of blood running from his nose. Unevenly he stands up and the singer is about to go for him again when Nami and Robin fling themselves at her, restraining her as much as they can. Zoro pulls her free through, but by this time the singer is crying herself and she flees from the stage with Zoro hot on her heels. Reflexively Sanji feels the corners of his mouth tug up in a smug grin, serves that idiot right for treating a lady like that, she deserves better than him.

Sanji hums in thought. So Zoro’s last relationship crashed and burned in front of everyone then? No wonder Zoro is such a miserable bastard. What must he have done to push that poor woman so far as to make her slap him so hard? What had Zoro said to her before then that upset the lovely lady so much? It sounded like the argument revolved around the band, but their relationship must have been pretty poor for her to leave him like that. 

What was her name again anyway? He clicks back to Wikipedia and goes through to her page. He learns that her name is Baby, it appears to be a stage name but her real one isn’t listed. As soon as Sanji sees a proper picture of her, rather than some shitty grainy video, he recognises her. 

It’s Baby from the band Baby 5, he knows loads of her songs, and they’re forever on the radio. She’s pretty famous, and gorgeous too. Her long flowing dark hair, her curvy yet slender frame and long legs that go on for days. She’s got a cute little pout on her gorgeous painted lips and her big chocolaty eyes just beckon Sanji to fall right in. His mouth is actually watering at the sight of her. How on earth did _Zoro_ manage to date such a gorgeous babe?

Still, he finds himself grinning, the guitarist must be pretty butthurt that she dumped him in front of everyone and then went on to be wildly successful without him. It’s pretty funny actually. He smirks and rewinds that video to the part where Zoro got slapped again. He chuckles a little to himself at seeing the ungrateful moron get a little comeuppance. 

Still, it wasn’t as if he was in danger of Sanji doing the same to him, so he’d just have to get over it. After all, it was hardly like he was going to sleep with the green headed freak was it? That snarling, overly aggressive, violent asshole wasn’t exactly Sanji’s type. It seems like the rest of the band are a bit used to tiptoeing around him as well from how they acted and what they said. Well, he was in for a shock if he thought he could get away with that shit with him wasn’t he? Man, is he ever looking forward to the opportunity to throw that in Zoro’s stupid face. 

He laughs a little to himself and shuts his laptop. He stands up, tucks his ipod with the band’s songs on in his pocket and stretches out his back. After that Sanji tucks his chair back under his desk and jogs down the stairs, he’s a little hungry for dinner and he should really be sociable with his new bandmates. 

With a little more sleuthing he manages to find the kitchen. Like the rest of the building it’s huge, the worksurfaces all appear to be granite at first chance and he can already see all of the knives stuck to a magnetic strip on the wall. Pots and pans hang from a rack overhead and the silver extractor hood gleams with a clean brushed metal finish. There’s just so much space in comparison to his tiny little kitchen at the Baratie which could fit him and Zeff in but no one else. 

In the other half of the room is a huge long oak table with plenty of chairs set around it and on one of them sits one long-nosed keyboard player. The musician is looking a little glum and is idly rolling his soda bottle around on its base at the edge. He seems to hear Sanji come in though and looks over to him, he puts on a small smile but Sanji can tell that something is obviously still bugging him. 

“Hey.” Usopp greets him.

“Hey.” Sanji answers back, making his way into the room. The kitchen is amazing and Sanji really can’t wait to use it, but right now Usopp is a little more interesting.

“Sorry about Zoro. He’s usually a lot nicer than that. Your job is just a bit of a sore subject is all, it’s not personal.” Usopp apologises in his friend’s place.

“Yeah, I would probably be pretty pissy about it if my ex used to have that job and then humiliated me publicly like that.” Sanji snorts, coming closer to Usopp.

The keyboard player’s face is surprised for a second before fading to a muted irritation. He rights the bottle in his hands, his long fingers tightening on it. 

“Not everything you read on the internet is entirely right you know.” He points out.

“So,” Sanji shrugs, pulling out a chair at the table and sitting down opposite the younger guy, “educate me.” 

Usopp looks uncomfortable and seems hesitant to talk about it but Sanji just fixes him with an expectant look. If the longnose wants him to believe that Zoro is more than the jerk that he seems to be, he’d better get some back story here.

“Look, for the record I think you’re great and you frankly seem to be a better singer than her and I think you should keep the job, no matter what Zoro says.” Usopp says, looking him in the eye with a weak smile. Sanji raises an eyebrow and waits for the inevitable ‘but’ to follow a sentence that nice and conciliatory. 

“But don’t ever say what you just did to Zoro. He and Baby started dating when they were fourteen and only broke up… well, when Zoro was only just nineteen. She wasn’t exactly good for him, it all started so nicely and I liked her at first. But… well, she was messed up to say the least and not exactly nice to him. But Zoro is as loyal as they come, he never stopped loving her. If you use that against him then this won’t work.” Usopp sighs.

Sanji considers that, it must be a pretty sucky situation. Still it’s hardly his fault is it?

“He’s a jerk though.” Sanji points out accurately. 

“He’s a generous loving softie… wrapped in an irritable, moody, jerk. He’s complex. Just… try not to piss him off so much and I’m sure he’ll take to you just fine in his own time.” Usopp laughs, standing up from the table. The long nose drains the last of his soda and throws it into the recycling with surprisingly perfect aim. 

“What’s so fragile about this relationship of his that makes you all tiptoe around him like that? From where I’m sitting it looks like none of you stand up to him. Why should I do the same?” Sanji challenges.

“You’d understand if you had saw him how he was with her.” The other guy says frustratedly.

“Well that ship’s quite clearly sailed. Look, lots of people have had bad relationships it’s not like- what are you doing?” He questions as halfway through his sentence the other guy had suddenly started rummaging in his bag on the next chair for something. 

With an “ah hah!” he pulls out his phone and starts loading up a video. Sanji doesn’t have time for shitty phone speakers and takes the headphones that live pretty much perpetually around his neck and plugs them in and waits as the video loads, he’s wondering what on earth it could be that Usopp is going to show him that’ll so change his mind. The video starts playing, it’s clearly home shot, though the sound is remarkably good. 

In the centre of the shot is Zoro, his eyes shut, playing a white acoustic guitar. The melody is slow and sweet, and a little sad perhaps. He tries to place how old Zoro is there, from what Usopp said he’d guess that he must be only about fourteen. His face is a little smoother, a little less angular, and he looks… more innocent perhaps. Though his hair is still that stupid moss green, Sanji finds himself grinning to himself and wondering just how long Zoro’s been that colour.

A young girl walks into the shot from around the camera and sits next to him, she opens her mouth and starts to sing a bittersweet song. Sanji immediately recognises her as Baby, though she too looks much younger. She looks… fragile somehow, as if something is only just holding her together and her big brown eyes are uncertain. She closes them though as she sings.

“ _When I was younger, I saw my daddy cry_

_And curse at the wind_

_He broke his own heart and I watched_

_As he tried to reassemble it_

 

_And my momma swore that_

_She would never let herself forget_

_And that was the day that I promised_

_I'd never sing of love if it does not exist”_

Zoro’s eyes open then, and as he looks at the younger Baby with her curled dark hair hanging in her face, something pure and oh so earnest shows in his expression. Baby cracks her eyes open then, smiles at him and starts the chorus of her song.

“ _But darling, you are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

_You are the only exception”_

Zoro’s gaze on her his unwavering, never looking down at his confident hands on the guitar strings, instead he just has a small smile on his face as he watches her. 

“ _Maybe I know, somewhere deep in my soul_

_That love never lasts_

_And we've got to find other ways to make it alone_

_Or keep a straight face_

 

_And I've always lived like this_

_Keeping a comfortable distance_

_And up until now I had sworn to myself that I'm content with loneliness_

_Because none of it was ever worth the risk”_

Baby’s tone becomes more melancholy the more that she sings. From a technical point of view Sanji would say that she’s inexperienced and that the mood is flattening her pitch, but every time she opens her eyes and sees Zoro her skill level jumps and the mood picks up.

“ _But you are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

 

_I've got a tight grip on reality_

_But I can't let go of what's in front of me here_

_I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up_

_Leave me with some kind of proof, it's not a dream, oh”_

Every word that she sings is intense, her gaze on Zoro powerful and strong. The song is undeniably being sung to him. She begins the chorus again, and with every repetition of it Sanji finds part of the malice that he holds for Zoro receding a little. 

“ _You are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

 

_You are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

_You are the only exception_

 

_And I'm on my way to believing_

_Oh, and I'm on my way to believing”_

By the time the song has come to an end Sanji resolves completely to bite his tongue around Zoro. The guitarist was angry at him sure, but that’s because the expression of love and adoration that the two of them once had in this very video broke and died, eventually ending with that violent slap on stage. It seems like he’s just having… a hard time letting go of that.

Sanji pouts and wonders if Usopp might be right, if perhaps he should keep what he learnt to himself. He can’t imagine what a five year long relationship might feel like. Oh, he’s had relationships before but his longest ever was six months and he took at least that long again to get over the girl. So if that bastard only just lost her last year then he supposes he might still be torn up about it, and after five years Sanji imagines that he might have forgotten what it was like to be alone, that’d be rough. 

Sure, bringing it up would certainly be a sure fire way of cutting the asshole down to size but did he really want to do that? Did he want to be _that guy_? Besides, as Usopp pointed out, he only knows what he read online. No, maybe he should be a little more magnanimous than that and keep what he read to himself. He wants to take the guy down a peg for daring to upset poor Nami, he doesn’t want to stomp all over the guy’s heart for it. 

“Fine,” He grouses as he pulls his headphone jack out, “I won’t say anything. But I’m still not about to let him walk all over me.” 

“No one said you had to do that.” Usopp answers, putting his phone back into his oversized bag. 

Sanji grumbles to himself, pissed off about his good heart and decides to start cooking. Usopp leaves him to it. He looks in the fridge and rapidly surmises that not much cooking goes on in this house. Sanji doesn't know what kind of food his new bandmates might like, not that he’d thought to ask the keyboard player before he left. But either way there isn't enough of any one thing to just make one dish for everyone.

He takes his own phone with the band’s music on and plugs himself back in, he wants to be as familiar as possible with their music and if he can memorise and cook at the same time, all the better. He takes his time a little and with the ingredients that he manages to rustle up from the fridge he makes a selection of food, both meat and non, spicy and creamy, a whole range.

He'd never really considered doing cooking for a living as he always intended on working at the Baratie in order to pay Zeff back for taking him in. He still enjoyed cooking though and though he was mainly self-taught he was incredibly good. It made his old man happy and it was the only way that he complied with his doctor's prescription on diet after he lost his leg, the old man had to be careful not to eat too sweet and risk infection. It wasn’t really a risk for long but Sanji had kept it up since then, especially after he found out that girls are rather charmed by a man who can cook.

It's not long before the others all smell the food that he's making and come to join him in the grand sweeping kitchen with its big dining table, the one that he'd sat at with Usopp earlier. All of them come except for Zoro. He doesn't know if the guitarist is in the house still or not and frankly he'd rather not see the other man at all, it's far easier to be noble and restrained when not faced with temptation to be a complete bastard. He could easily keep to his self-made agreement not to bring up Zoro's shitty relationship issues if he never had to speak to him.

None of the rest of the band bring up the fight at all and instead just ask him questions about where he learnt to cook and what he's making. Sanji alters recipes at his lady's requests, making things warmer or milder as they please and completely ignoring the requests of the others, which seems to please Nami even more!

The band helps themselves to food when it’s all done and on the table. Luffy is positively vacuuming up every single morsel there is that's not already on someone else's plate, and that restraint is only due to a particularly threatening look that the lovely Nami gives their drummer.

"Would you be willing to cook like this for us all the time?" Nami asks looking at him curiously, leaning back in her seat and rubbing her perfect stomach in satisfaction.

"For you? Of course my angel!" Sanji beams happily at her from his seat.

"Well usually everyone except Luffy and Chopper has to have a job, usually part time to fit around the band, but just something to bring a little money in. But if you cook for us like this every night I'll pay you for the service instead." Nami says thoughtfully.

"I agree, it would be far more useful. Assuming that you agree Sanji." Robin smiles at him.

"Of course!" he exclaims delightedly.

"I'll draw you up a contract." Nami nods, suddenly business-like.

"Read it this time." Franky mutters to him.

"I have to say Nami, in all the years I've known you this is the first time that I've heard you offer to pay someone!" Brook trills with laughter.

"You're brave, Brook." Usopp says under his breath as Nami shoots Brook a death glare that could melt the musician's skin from his bones.

"More of Sanji's food! Yay!" Luffy laughs overjoyed, apparently oblivious to Brook’s near death transgression.

"So you didn't hire us a singer after all, you hired us a cook. You should have said Nami." A deep voice from behind Sanji says. 

He turns his head tensely and looks up to see the smug looking green haired guitarist leaning against the door frame. Sanji clamps his jaw shut to avoid saying all of the nasty things that he promised himself he wouldn't say, just being there and looking smug isn’t grounds to be a complete dick to him.

"Play nice. I'll go write that contract. Franky, Brook, you wash up." Nami orders, shooting a look between the two of them and standing up to leave with Robin.

"But why do we-" Franky begins with a frown.

"I'm sorry, did that sound like a question?" Nami scowls over her shoulder at them. The men all mutter but stay more or less silent.

"I thought not." Nami nods and heads out of the room.

"You ate everything again Luffy?" Zoro sighs, looking over the table and totally ignoring Sanji.

"You should have been here." Luffy says around the last bread roll in his impressively stretchy mouth. Sanji would swear that he was secretly a hamster with cheek pouches and all with the amount of food the kid could stuff in his face.

"I'll make you something, since I'm so incredibly forgiving and generous." Sanji announces as he takes his own empty plate to the sink. He could take this opportunity to be nice and see if the green haired, muscle clad, scowling mother fucker over there was really so sweet inside. Alternatively, he could just be an aggressive moron who can just play a nice sweet song on a guitar and sing okay. 

“What are you still doing here anyway?” Zoro challenges from behind him. Sanji puts another tally into the ‘total dick’ column in his mind, leaving the one headed ‘secretly sweet’ with one mere point earned from that video. 

Despite his best intentions Sanji feels his hackles rise and he turns on his heel to scowl back at the unimpressed looking guitarist. 

“What, you think I’d just leave because you threw a hissy fit? Think again, idiot.” He shoots back. 

“Uh, hey, you know what? I think we’ll just clean up later. You know, if there’s still any unbroken plates left.” Franky announces from the table and hightails it with Brook and the others. Shit is no one willing to stand up to Zoro but him? 

“I figured you’d have been bright enough to realise that you’d just see sense and go home.” The other guy scowls at him.

“Hah. Not really an option, even if you did scare me with your pathetic display of machismo.” He snorts, opening the fridge and looking inside.

“Ooh, big words.” The other guy says mockingly. 

“Need me to spell them out for you?” Sanji snipes back.

Zoro growls, clearly irritated at being out-thought in a fight that doesn’t involve fists. The guy leans forward and slams the fridge shut. 

“Just. Go. Home.” He snaps tetchily. 

“I couldn’t if I wanted to, so you’re just going to have to deal with not getting your own way.” Sanji argues back, the words spilling from his mouth before it occurs that this is probably not something he wants to be sharing with that bastard. 

It does seem to grab his attention though.

“What do you mean?” Zoro asks him, sounding confused and wary, as if this is some sort of trap.

“My old man kicked me out, I’ve got nowhere else to go.” He admits unhappily, the memory still stinging more than a little. It’s not quite sunk in yet, the way that Zeff has thrown him out so callously. It’ll probably hit him all in one go later. 

“Oh.” The green haired guy says quietly, stepping back and looking at him, as if for the first time. 

Sanji bristles at that look. He does not need any fucking pity, and certainly not from that guy!

“Don’t you look at me like that, you bastard! I don’t need your pity!” He snaps, furious at himself for revealing a weakness like that and even angrier at Zoro’s condescending pity for poor little abandoned Sanji. 

“It’s not pity, it’s compassion. Stay here if you have to until you find somewhere else, but then you get the fuck out of my hair, out of my house and out of this band. You’re not needed, so go.” Zoro growls. 

That’d almost count as kind if the other man wasn’t such a colossal tool about it. 

“Not needed? That’s not what it sounds like to me.” He shoots back, tapping the headphones around his neck. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The other man challenges, his eyes flashing angrily. Sanji grins, he’s wounded the other man’s stupid pride has he? Too bad.

“Don’t get me wrong, you’re _okay_ at singing. But you’re a guitarist, not a singer. You just don’t have the skill to carry a lead singer role.” Sanji reasons, trying to be at least vaguely nice in a kinda half assed way.

“And you think you’re better than me?” Zoro snorts derisively. 

“No, I know I am. You just don’t know it because you’ve never heard me sing.” Sanji smirks back cockily. 

“That’s it, practice, tonight. I’ll hand you your ass and then you can get out of my house.” Zoro snarls in his face, leaning all into Sanji’s personal space in a way that’s clearly meant to intimidate him. It’s not going to work though. Sanji just leans right back into Zoro’s.

“I look forward to it. Make your own damn dinner, but don’t have too much, cause you’ll be eating those words later.” He purrs threateningly into Zoro’s ear. And then, because he’s a mature adult, stalks off after deliberately smacking his shoulder into Zoro’s. 

 

It's barely an hour until Zoro's fed himself and somehow convinced everyone else into agreeing to a practice session. When Robin comes to get him Zoro is off somewhere arguing with Nami (or so Robin tells him), so he has a little bit of time to see the studio in the basement before the aggressive muscle head comes back.

In the basement of their house is the studio. It's split into two rooms, the first room that Sanji comes to seems to be Chopper's recording room. It's full of wide panels of sliders and dials that probably do incomprehensible things to sound that Sanji could probably spend a lifetime on and still not know his way around it. There's a fancy apple computer that Chopper is sitting at, typing at a furious pace.

In front of all of these panels is a big glass window, through it, though silent, he can see the rest of the band. Just as Robin said he can see Zoro and Nami arguing in the middle of the room, Nami is waggling her finger in a scolding manner in Zoro’s face. Zoro is scowling at her as if he hopes that doing it enough will make her catch fire. Sanji has his doubts about that super power. 

"Oh! Sanji! Come here, come here." Chopper says beckoning him over. Sanji walks towards the kid, his eyes still on the argument in the recording studio itself.

"It might take a little time for me to work out what to do with your voice with recording, Zoro's sometimes requires a little smoothing out. I just want you to be sure to stand where you should with the mic, you never know when you're going to get a perfect run through that I'll want to use." Chopper informs him from his seat.

"No problem, so what... You just stitch together takes that you think are good for the final track?" he asks curiously.

"I prefer to get a solid run through all recorded at once, but if there's a really nice bit then yes, I'll take it." the brown haired kid smiles.

“Huh.” Sanji says blankly, he doesn’t really have anything to say to that. Whilst he was familiar with the audio equipment at the Baratie he didn’t really understand the inner workings of it, how it seemed that you could gut music and almost stitch it back together however you liked, it was odd to him. And this set up of Chopper’s… well, that is even more foreign to him. 

“The system is actually incredibly clever, as soon as anyone comes through the door it starts recording, so we never miss a thing.” Robin smiles encouragingly at the younger boy.

“Even when I’m not here I can still catch your performances.” The brown haired boy agrees happily.

“Yeah, speaking of, shouldn’t you be in school or something?” Sanji frowns at the kid. 

Chopper looks up at him with a confused frown.

“It’s… nine pm, on a Saturday.” He says slowly.

“I didn’t mean this second, just… in general.” Sanji sighs, rolling his eyes. 

“Well, I do go to school. I’m enrolled at the university in the city, but it’s a pretty flexible schedule.” The kid nods.

That makes Sanji’s eyes widen. How old is this kid? He looks like he’s about thirteen or fourteen at most, he’s so little that his messy brown hair barely comes up to Sanji’s ribs.

“Geez, how old are you? I thought you were like… thirteen.” He laughs surprised. 

“I’m thirteen and a half!” Chopper blushes, swinging his legs on his seat. His feet don’t even touch the floor. 

“Chopper is a bit of a prodigy, we’re lucky to have him.” Robin smiles and runs her hand through his messy brown curls. 

Sanji wants to ask where Chopper’s parents are, he wants to ask him if they’re okay with him living here. But he doesn’t. He closes his mouth. He knows full well that you don’t get to that age without having parents around if you don’t have a damn good reason. Chopper’s parents could have been awful, or Chopper could have made himself legally an adult and moved out to go to university, or they could be dead. The same answer comes up to any of those situations though, it’s none of his business. 

“Well alright. So what do you need me to do then maestro?” He asks with a grin, pointing to the window which shows the next room. Through it he can see that whatever argument was going on between Zoro and Nami has finished and Zoro is now flopped over in a giant bean bag with what looks suspiciously like a sulky expression on his face. Instead Nami is now punching Luffy in the head, he almost certainly deserves it. 

“See that there are two microphones set up at the front of the room? One near Zoro and one on the left?” Chopper says, pointing at it. 

“Yeah.” Sanji nods. 

“Well that left one is yours. Having listened to you I don’t think I’ll have to edit too much, though I might have to dial in the sensitivity of the mic as you seem to have a pretty powerful set of lungs on you.” Chopper muses, fiddling with a dial and squinting at the screen. 

“And I’ll be filming too, I almost always film practices if I’m not playing. So come on Sanji, let’s get started.” Robin says, picking up an expensive looking camera off of the desk and linking her arm with Sanji’s. 

Whilst Sanji melts at her lovely touch she takes him into the next room. He ignores Zoro’s challenging stare and instead takes a look around the place. Luffy is happily drumming away to himself, though relatively quietly it must be said. 

The room is plush, the walls are softly carpeted, probably as the bare concrete basement walls would make the sound bounce too much. The carpet underfoot is long and comfy, with various homey rugs scattered about. There are large soft armchairs about the place, including the beanbag that Zoro was previously slouched in. Instruments are set up and look perpetually ready to be played. 

Robin leaves his side, curling up in a large dark armchair at the front of the room and flicks open her camera. Zoro is standing by his microphone, his gaze challenging. Sanji rolls his eyes and ignores him, heading to the microphone on the left that Chopper pointed out to him earlier. He’s not going to get into some petty bickering match now, he’s going to let his voice and his talent do the talking here, regardless of what the green haired idiot thinks. 

“Warm up first, you can have your little grudge match later, Zoro.” Nami sighs and exits the room, shutting the door behind her and settling into a seat by Chopper’s side. 

Zoro’s awareness of him seems to fall away and Sanji watches, but tries not to look to interested, as Zoro slides a black and red electric over his head. The guitarist cracks his neck and turns his gaze to Usopp.

“Muse? As a warm up?” Usopp suggests. Zoro’s answering grin is answer enough. Usopp starts playing the keyboard part to the intro of the song, one that Sanji instantly recognises of course.

“I know them. That Bellamy guy is a psycho but he’s got a good voice.” Sanji says remembering the blonde haired maniac.

“Think you’re better than him too?” Zoro snorts, clearly not expecting Sanji to answer. 

Sanji glowers and remembers to let his voice do all the arguing it needs to for him. He flicks his eyes to the left, his mic is close enough for Chopper to be happy enough. He shuts his eyes and faces in the direction of the microphone. He lets his voice become soft and sweet, he starts quiet too, knowing just how much power he’s wanting to kick into the song and he wants the difference to be as obvious as possible. Zoro will be eating his words in no time. 

 

“ _Birds flying high_

_You know how I feel_

_Sun in the sky_

_You know how I feel_

_Reeds driftin' on by_

_You know how I feel_

 

_It's a new dawn_

_It's a new day_

_It's a new life_

_For me_

_And I'm feeling good”_

 

Zoro’s guitar kicks in then, startling Sanji’s eyes open. The guitarist’s dark eyes are challenging, he clearly doesn’t think that Sanji can pull the whole song off. Hah, idiot. He smirks and flips Zoro off before turning back the right way and letting a little more of his power out with each passing line.

 

“ _Fish in the sea_

_You know how I feel_

_River running free_

_You know how I feel_

_Blossom in the trees_

_You know how I feel_

 

_It's a new dawn_

_It's a new day_

_It's a new life_

_For me_

_And I'm feeling good”_

 

He controls his breathing and resists the temptation to look at Zoro again. The man’s guitar is spot on though, and he keeps in time perfectly with the more fiddly guitar riffs that he remembers seeing the guitarist sweat over when Bellamy and his band performed at the Baratie some years ago. 

He drops his voice and lets the lower end of his register show off a little before switching up higher and then kicking the power in his voice up even higher with the next verse.

 

“ _Dragonfly out in the sun_

_You know what I mean, don't you know_

_Butterflies all out havin' fun_

_You know what I mean_

_Sleep in peace when day is done_

_And this old world is a new world_

_And a bold world_

_For me”_

 

Sanji decides to just fuck it and let his voice do what it wants, his best work often happens when he’s having more fun with what he does. Zeff used to bitch if he let loose too much, he’d snap at Sanji and tell him he made the glasses on the other side of the bar rattle and break. But there aren’t any glasses in here and he really wants to put Zoro in his place, so to hell with it.

 

“ _Stars when you shine_

_You know how I feel_

_Scent of the pine_

_You know how I feel_

_Yeah, freedom is mine_

_And you know how I feel”_

 

He finishes letting his range really flex as much as it can. This isn’t really a warm up song, and if he was being sensible he wouldn’t launch into this, but to hell with it.

 

“ _It's a new dawn_

_It's a new day_

_It's a new life_

_For me_

_And I'm feeling good”_

 

With the last note seeming to hang in the air for a good few seconds after it’s left his mouth Sanji opens his eyes and lets his gaze slide over to Zoro.

The guitarist is no longer looking at him like he’s something the cat dragged in, but he doesn’t exactly look impressed either. 

“Warm enough yet, moss head? Or do I have to wait around for you all night?” He smirks at the guitarist. 

“We’ll see how cocky you are when you have to sing songs that you’ve not sung a thousand times.” The guitarist answers back. As if Sanji has just spent years of his life practicing that one song in case he was to join a band and have it suggested by someone else just to one up someone he hadn’t met yet. A likely plan. 

“He knows all of our songs by now! He can learn them just like that!” Luffy chirps happily from the drum kit, smacking a drum for emphasis. 

“Bullshit.” Zoro answers back with a frown. 

“It’s true, he learnt Lake Pontchartrain in like… two listens.” Usopp agrees with a nod.

Zoro looks understandably dubious, his eyes flicking from him to Usopp and back again. 

“Liar.” Zoro mutters, turning back to his own microphone. 

“It’s true!” Usopp protests, wide eyed and indignant. 

“Stop bickering children. We’re gonna run through some usual set stuff. Let’s go for ‘better open the door’ to begin, are you okay with that Sanji?” Nami asks him, from the other side of the glass. Her voice is being pumped into the room from the other side, there must be a button for that or something. 

“Of course, my goddess!” He exclaims happily, earning him a scowl of contempt from the green haired idiot. 

“Zoro, remember that you’re only singing support this time. Don’t just leap into the song, got it?” Nami instructs, her voice coming from above them. 

Zoro leans into his own microphone, his lips almost touching it. He looks at Nami as he does so and then speaks, deep and slow. 

“Bite me, witch.” He says simply. 

Sanji’s draw drops at the utter rudeness of the asshole’s words. He’s seriously considering rearranging the bastard’s face when Nami’s voice cuts in again.

“I’m sorry Zoro, I couldn’t hear you over the sound of how much money you owe me? Could you say that again?” Nami says innocently, making Robin giggle from her seat. 

Zoro grinds his teeth but keeps his mouth shut, though his look at Nami through the window is positively murderous.

“I thought so.” Nami says and cuts off again. 

Luffy laughs loudly at Zoro’s discomfort and Sanji allows himself a quiet snigger as well, Zoro’s indignant glare only makes it funnier and Sanji’s snickering turns into full on laughter. The crazed drummer counts them in and as one the others all launch into their song. He doesn’t come in right away but for a split second he’d a little intimidated, the sound is so full on that part of him wonders if he doesn’t belong in this band. 

He shakes off his doubts, there just isn’t time for them, and starts to sing. He knows the words of course, he has learnt the song. He closes his eyes and lets them come to him, this song is a little less weird than the rest, though still pretty crazy. 

 

“ _You better open the door before I take a hammer to the walls around it._

_I cannot let you inside my cell for fear I'll sink the ship and drag us both down.”_

 

Zoro cuts in then, singing along with him for the chorus. Or that’s what he’s supposed to be doing anyway. What he actually seems to be doing is trying to overpower Sanji vocally, and like hell is he going to let that happen. 

The two of them commence what feels like a vocal arms race with Sanji using his greater power and range to try to take control back and Zoro just using sheer bloody-mindedness to force him back.

They only get about halfway through the song before Nami shouts at them to stop, leaving him and Zoro glaring at each other fiercely. 

“What’s the matter cook? Can’t keep up?” Zoro snarls at him.

“I’m not a cook! And I’m doing just fine, if you stopped screeching all over the place trying to shove me out then we wouldn’t have a problem here!” He growls back angrily.

“Well Nami’s paying you to cook, and that seems to be the only thing you’re halfway decent at, cook. And you’re the one flailing around with no control, not me!” Zoro argues nastily, stepping towards Sanji and trying to get into his space. 

Sanji is about to come back with a particularly cutting remark that would surely get the wind out of Zoro’s sails, he just hasn’t quite thought of it yet, when Nami bursts into the room. Zoro doesn’t even look but perhaps he should be, she’s pulling out a roll of duct tape and marching furiously towards them.

Sanji wonders if she means to tape Zoro’s yap shut, a move he’d highly appreciate, but instead she bends down and tapes Zoro’s feet to the floor. Before he can even work out what the hell is happening she does it again and again until the guitarist is stuck firmly in place. 

“What the HELL are you doing you crazy woman?!” Zoro demands. 

“Don’t call her that!” Sanji interjects, though he too is wondering what on earth Nami is up to. 

“STAY.” She orders him, with a look up at him. That freezes Sanji in place, facing Zoro, just as much as the duct tape that she applies to stick him in place does. 

“The two of you can’t just shout over each other, you need to work in harmony. Emphasis on the _harmony_ part morons. So, you’re going to share this microphone and you’re going to listen to each other, or else you’re going to end up making each other deaf.” Nami announces, dropping Zoro’s mic stand between them.

“What, no! You- agh!” Zoro exclaims, nearly losing his balance in his stupid attempt to get away. 

“Do it. AGAIN!” Nami snaps, strutting out of the room and slamming the door behind her. 

Sanji just stands open mouthed and only looks up when he hears Brook and Franky start laughing.

“Shut your traps!” the guitarist yells, making Sanji wince. Nami has a point about them having to scale their voices in or make each other deaf.

“Maybe next Nami will put you both in pointy dunce caps and make you sit in the corner.” Franky chuckles to himself, making Brook hoot with laughter. 

“Get on with it.” Nami’s voice cuts in over them. 

Zoro scowls and turns back to Sanji, not that he has much choice. The band starts the song from the beginning again and Sanji reels his volume back into normal levels when his part starts.

 

“ _You better open the door before I take a hammer to the walls around it._

_I cannot let you inside my cell for fear I'll sink the ship and drag us both down.”_

 

The chorus, and subsequently Zoro starts. At first the two of them are still shoving each other vocally for power but it’s simply too much when they’re barely a foot from each other and before the end of the first chorus they’ve both had to reign it in even more. 

 

“ _Our hell ends every weekend_

_But it's all I have to believe in._

_Our hell ends every weekend_

_But it's all I have to believe in.”_

 

The verse starts and Sanji gets to sing alone again, it’s certainly better than the first run through.

 

“ _Matt makes his murderous demand: foreign films._

_I take a stand and it's all uphill from here (at least I hope so)._

_Kate claims she can't depend on me for anything and I agree_

_It's crystal clear._

_I reach for the bottle and disappear.”_

 

The chorus kicks up once again but now that they’re not trying to outdo one another Sanji can hear the lower ranges in Zoro’s voice and the way it seems to reverberate in the other man’s chest. Sanji considers this and kicks his own tone up a little higher in his significantly wider register and instantly it sounds better. 

 

“ _Our hell ends every weekend_

_But it's all I have to believe in._

_Our hell ends every weekend_

_But it's all I have to believe in.”_

 

When the verse starts once more Sanji finds himself getting more of a feel for the song beyond simply hitting the right notes. He bends it a little to fit his more modified registers and finds that it sounds like it fits a little better.

 

“ _Frank fails to see the humour in my sad attempts at breakdancing_

_in every bar along Lyndale Avenue._

_Liz likes to liquor up my thoughts from the C.C. Club to the Triple Rock_

_There's no escape from the chorus of people screaming:_

 

_You better open the door before I take a hammer to the walls around it._

_I cannot let you inside my cell for fear I'll sink the ship and drag us both down.”_

 

When the chorus starts again he and the other man are instantly gelling together more, it actually sounds pretty damn good.

 

“ _Our hell ends every weekend_

_But it's all I have to believe in._

_Our hell ends every weekend_

_But it's all I have to believe in.”_

 

Without even saying anything Zoro falls back to allow a delay between their lines, so it sounds like Zoro’s voice is echoing his own in a deeper tone. It’s… pretty nice, even he has to admit. 

 

“ _I'll swim backwards_

_I'll swim backwards_

_I'll swim backwards_

_I'll swim backwards_

_I'll swim backwards_

_I'll swim backwards_

_I'll swim alone the long goodbye._

 

_You better open the door before I take a hammer to the walls around it._

_I cannot let you inside my cell for fear I’ll sink the ship and drag us both down.”_

 

They finish and Sanji instantly wants to back out of Zoro’s space, the whole thing feels too intense and weird. Zoro looks like he wants to bolt just as much. 

“Goddamn, that was way better.” Franky says into the silence of the room.

“Easily better than you and Zoro together.” Brook says in agreement.

“Gee, thanks man.” Franky mutters irritably. 

“You two work together really well! You’ll be best friends!” Luffy crows happily from the back of the room.

“Don’t just decide something like that, dumbass!” Zoro yells angrily and tries to rip his feet from the floor. 

Sanji groans to himself. They might sound alright together when they were singing and co-operating then, but clearly this wasn’t going to be easy or seamless in reality. Nami’s trick of taping them to the floor could hardly be applied to every situation. 

“Zoro, don’t you have something to say to Sanji?” Robin enquires from behind her video camera. Sanji had completely forgotten that she was filming at all. Zoro manages to rip his feet from the floor in one big movement. He starts to pull the tape from himself and looks irritably at Sanji.

“You’re… not the worst singer I’ve ever heard.” Zoro says grudgingly. 

“Wow. I think I’ll get that tattooed on me somewhere.” Sanji shoots back flatly at the non-compliment. 

“I think I’ve got a pen and a knife if you want a hand with that. Your face would be a good place, can’t make it much worse after all.” The green haired ass says mockingly. 

“CAN IT. Back to practicing! And don’t you dare move from that spot Zoro!” Nami shouts over the speaker system. 

He and Zoro sigh unhappily, resigned to having to share a microphone as they run through the rest of the songs that Nami specifies. Sanji wonders to himself what on earth he did to deserve such a cruel punishment as having to sing with a brute like this. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs this time are “only exception” by Paramore, “Feeling good” by Muse and “Better open the door” by Motion City Soundtrack.


	3. Chapter 3

Sanji finds that he’s fitting in nicely to life in the band. Everyone is friendly and he feels really quickly that he’s known them for a long time. The others all make an effort to catch him up with information if they’re ever recounting a story or anecdote about people or places that Sanji doesn’t know. 

Everyone that is except for Zoro.

Where life with everyone else is smooth and easy life with Zoro is rough and difficult. It seems like the guitarist is deliberately going out of his way to blatantly ignore Sanji or fight with him. Zoro throws him looks of distain and venom as if Sanji had run over his precious bike or something. Sanji has tried to avoid him, but that doesn’t help. He’s tried talking to him and that if anything makes it worse. 

He’d be okay if Zoro wasn’t going out of his way to make his life actively difficult. Zoro can apparently get out of his room through his window and into Sanji’s via his by going over the roof. Zoro then decided to shove Sanji’s desk chair under the door, climb back out and then lock himself in his room and refuse to help. Franky had to take the door off of its hinges to get him in!

When they practice they don’t have any choice but to be close as Nami has permanently removed the other microphone in the studio, much to Chopper’s agony, and is making them practice together. She shoves them close together around the same mic and threatens to tape them to the floor if they don’t stay there. She’s had to tape Zoro again at least once in every practice, the other man apparently can’t stand to be near him. 

In fairness, her idea is kind of brilliant. When they’re so close they simply can’t sing over each other and they’re instead forced into an uneasy kind of harmony. It sounds better but it still feels forced to Sanji. 

He doesn’t know how long it’ll last but he’s just decided that thinking about it is as pointless as trying to argue with the weather. He just has to let it happen and hope that Zoro will wear himself out of his one man hate campaign eventually. It’d probably be over quicker if Sanji could resist fighting with him, but he just can’t. 

When Monday morning rolls around Sanji has busied himself in the kitchen. He’s making breakfast for everyone. Nami really did give him a job to cook for the band and so far he’s actually really enjoying it. He’s taking requests from everyone bar Zoro, who simply declared that anything Sanji made would be awful anyway and that started a yelling match that made everyone else’s ears hurt. Other than Zoro it’s… nice. 

His mind has always wandered when he does mundane chores, and washing up is no different. He’s cleaning up after breakfast and his mind wanders back to the Baratie. He’s spent every night since he’s been here staring at his phone willing the old man to call or do something to indicate that he misses him, or that he’s made a mistake, or even just to apologise for being an ass about it all. But he’s heard nothing at all, not from Zeff or from anyone else at the Baratie. 

In all honesty he’s hurt. 

He knows though that Zeff will never come and say anything to him, not now, not now that he’s committed himself to avoiding him. So Sanji is going to have to see his old man himself if he wants to ever see him again. He dries his hands on a dish towel and checks his phone once more but there are still no messages. He’s still scrolling through his empty messages, refreshing them just in case, when he nearly bumps into Nami in the hallway on his way out. 

“Oh! Sanji, sorry about that.” She apologises quickly.

“Oh no, I’m sorry! Forgive me my flower!” Sanji pleads for her forgiveness, earning him a small amused smile. 

“Well, I wanted to find you anyway, so you saved me a job. Here, take this.” Nami says, pressing something into his palm.

Sanji frowns in confusion and opens his hand. In it is a phone, it’s an iPhone in fact, a version or two up from his old one. It’s fancy and white and feels fresh out of the box.

“For me? Why?” He questions, looking back at her.

“We all have them, or those of us that can be trusted with them anyway. Luffy has something more or less unbreakable and Brook can’t cope with smart phones so he’s got something old. Franky has an android because if you bring apple devices near him he all but hisses.” Nami says rolling her eyes and flipping her hair behind her ear in an irritated huff. 

“But Nami, you don’t have to. I’ve already got my own.” He says, holding up his older model to prove it. He doesn’t want to put her out of her way, not for his sake!

“Don’t worry about it, use the new one. It’s all paid for and it’s got all the things we use to keep our schedule on, it shows when practice is and everything. And I’ve set you up a twitter account too, it helps to promote the band, something I’m sure you’ll take seriously.” Nami nods, looking expectantly.

Well, how can he possibly let her down?

“Anything you want Nami-swan!” He coos adoringly at her. 

“Great! Put whatever you want up there, we try to be quite personal on there. I’ve already linked your account to all of ours. I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it. Anyway, I have to be off.” She chirps happily and bounces lusciously out of the house with Sanji staring all the way after her. 

Sanji loiters in the hallway for a bit, looking at his new phone. He’s never used this twitter thing before, but he knows enough about it to make sense of it. Nami’s set him up a name on there @SHsanji apparently. Looking through the people that he “follows” it seems like several other band members are on there too, most of them have more or less the same name format of SH and then their name. He scowls as he finds that Zoro has been talking shit about him on this thing but decides to let it go. It’s no different from what Zoro’s been saying to his face in fairness.

Sanji flicks through Zoro's tweets some more, the other man seems convinced that Sanji is going to quit, or at least that he can make him. He's wrong on both counts of course, but it still riles him nonetheless.  
  
Before he's even finished thinking that thought the overly loud stomping of motorcycle style boots echoes down the stairs. Sanji looks up with a frown, Zoro has a bicycle not a motorbike, those boots are stupidly heavy and unnecessary.  
  
"Nami! Oi, Nami!" Zoro hollers in a most ungentlemanly way as he stomps down the last few steps. Zoro spares him a brief glance, a look that is akin to one someone would give to gum stuck on the underside of their shoe.  
  
"Nami's already left, idiot. You probably kept her waiting too long." Sanji snorts at the idiot's misfortune as he turns to face the idiotic guitarist, pocketing his new phone as he does so.  
  
"What?! But she said five minutes, I'm EARLY!" Zoro squawks indignantly and rushes around looking as if Sanji might be lying and Nami might be hidden around the corner.  
  
"Ah shit, I'm going to be an hour late for work at this rate!" Zoro exclaims unhappily, running for the front door.  
  
"I'll take you." Sanji offers smugly. He knows full well that Zoro can't drive and his only other option aside from the lift he'd clearly been counting on was to bike it to work, something which was at least a 45 minute trip, if not longer. He offers for two reasons, one because he wants to savour the feeling of making Zoro be polite to him, or civil at least to earn his ride, and secondly perhaps if he does prove that he's an okay guy then Zoro will stop hating him so completely.  
  
"Fuck that." Zoro snarls at him over his shoulder and stalks out the door. Sanji scowls and follows him.  
  
"Okay, be like that. I'm only going the same way, a trip that will probably take me less than twenty minutes driving." Sanji sighs innocently as he follows Zoro to the garage and unlocks the driver's side door.   
  
Zoro doesn't say anything for a while but freezes instead. Sanji smirks at him and leans expectantly on his door, waiting for Zoro to crack.  
  
"Okay." Zoro mutters bitterly, stomping and clomping towards Sanji's car in his big heavy boots. Sanji smiles triumphantly and hops in, he doesn't unlock Zoro's door just yet though.  
  
He watches as the green headed guy yanks on his door handle, clearly surprised that it doesn't open. Sanji rolls the window down.  
  
"Say please." He orders smugly.  
  
Zoro gives him a look that suggests very clearly that Zoro would probably rather chop his own dick off than do that. He bites the inside of his cheek, scowls, stomps about for a bit and then returns to the window with the most evil glare Sanji has ever seen.  
  
"Please." the guitarist spits out like the words are poison. Sanji allows himself a smug grin and unlocks the door and turns the engine on. 

“Seeing as you’re already being an asshole you won’t mind if I take my bike in the back either.” Zoro adds and picks up his bike, throwing it on the back of Sanji’s car. He thinks of the blue machine as his car, but in reality it’s technically a truck it’s got a flat bed at the back but he only ever used it if Zeff needed him to haul shit around, not something he’s likely to be doing much of now, not unless Nami needs him to move something for her lovely self. Though now the back of his truck is filled with bicycle, well, whatever.

Zoro throws himself stroppily into the passenger seat and buckles in, though he tries to sit as far over in his seat as possible, putting as much distance between them as possible. Zoro's acting like he's allergic to Sanji's very presence. He should probably be offended but this is funny as shit to him.  
  
He throws his arm over the back of Zoro's chair as he looks out the back window to reverse and pretends not to notice how Zoro jumps away from him. He turns the vehicle around and speeds off, he doesn't want Zoro to be late, if he is it'll quite spoil his ability to gloat.  
  
"Where's your radio?" Zoro asks after a little while, looking at the crater in Sanji's dashboard that used to be home to the car stereo.  
  
"I ripped it out." Sanji answers distractedly, changing lane and merging into new traffic.  
  
"With what? Your bare hands?! Why?" Zoro asks in shock. Sanji laughs, he didn't actually rip it out with his bare hands, he had attacked the thing with a screwdriver and ripped it out in pieces. Either way the furious removal of the radio had left quite a few gouges in his dashboard.  
  
"Well, I've got a stupidly good memory for music, it's how I've learnt all of your songs so quickly." Sanji begins to explain.  
  
"You don't know all of my songs." Zoro cuts in with a scowl.  
  
"Shut up," Sanji shoots back with a glare, "I only have to hear a piece of music once or twice for it to be stuck in my head forever. Usually that's useful but it's as annoying as hell with radio jingles. I lost my temper and took it out." Sanji answers.  
  
"You're weird." Zoro observes with a squinty look at him. Sanji doesn’t have anything else to say to that and just hums one of their songs instead while he focuses on driving. He speeds into the city, slipping in and out of traffic like a pro and only slows a little when he gets onto the city itself. He doesn't know exactly where Zoro works.  
  
"It's fourth and Blue." Zoro says, as if reading his mind.  
  
"Hey, the Baratie is on sixth and blue, that's where I'm going." Sanji remarks in surprise. Zoro works only two blocks away from where Sanj's lived for almost his entire life. He's probably passed Zoro on the street a hundred times without realising it!  
  
"You going back home to ask your old man to take you back in?" Zoro asks, his voice gentle and curious. Now that riles Sanji right up. That gentle pitying tone getting under his skin so much more than the anger or the passive aggressive shit Zoro’s been pulling.   
  
"No!" he snaps back curtly, his fingernails biting into the steering wheel.

“Why are you going then?” Zoro presses. 

“None of your goddamn business. Where the hell am I parking?” He growls. Zoro looks at him with interest for a few moments before simply pointing across the road. Sanji cuts someone up to get into the parking behind the building and it’s only when he stops that he sees what kind of building it is. 

“You work in a coffee shop?” He questions, feeling surprised.

“That’s why I got you to drop me here, moron.” Zoro shoots back, his voice deadpan and eyeballing Sanji like he’s brain damaged. 

“So you’re what, a little waitress?” He grins out the window at the green haired guy. His grin only becomes wider as he practically sees Zoro’s hackles raise at the comment.

“I’m a barista, fuck face. Not all of us get jobs from Nami where we’re paid to flounce around making pastries, some of us have to _earn_ a living.” The guitarist snarls furiously. 

“Well, maybe if you could sing…” Sanji smirks, baiting him. 

“Go drive off the pier!” Zoro spits, chaining his bike up and stomping inside the back of the coffee shop amusingly angry. 

 

Well, that certainly made Sanji feel better. He turns around in the small coffee shop car park and nips across the road and around the corner until he’s in the Baratie’s car park. Giving Zoro a lift certainly took his mind off of the anxiety of seeing his old man again. He sighs and slides out of the car, shutting the door behind him. He fiddles with his keys, procrastinating before having to go up to the door and find out if Zeff has changed the locks. 

He takes a deep breath and steels himself. He slides his key in the lock and turns it, the door opens. He looks inside, Zeff is nowhere to be seen and anxiety hums in Sanji’s stomach. His phone pings again and he looks it to see Zoro bitching about Nami deliberately abandoning him so that Sanji had to give him a lift. Sanji grins, she probably did do that, she’s so clever trying to help them get along. It’s not her fault that it seems to be a worthless cause. 

The door slams behind him and he realises that in the moment of being distracted by Zoro’s idiocy on his phone his anxiety had disappeared and he’d kicked the door shut behind him and dropped his keys into the bowl by the door. Huh.

“You’d better not be trying to come back.” Zeff’s voice says from the top of the stairs. Sanji looks up and scowls. 

“No.” He says back tightly.

“Good.” Zeff retorts simply.

The two of them stare at each other for a few more seconds, neither seeming willing to break the silence. 

Sanji cracks first, he almost always does.

“I’ve got a new phone, from the band. Thought you should have the number in case…” Sanji’s lie trails off. Why would Zeff want to call him again? He’s not made any effort to do so.

“What’s the number?” Zeff asks, coming down a step to two. Sanji looks up at the stoic old man and restrains the smile that he wants to wear, so the old geezer does still care then…

“I’ll call you with it, I know how awful you are with technology. Then you can just call me back on it. Patty can show you how.” Sanji says, quickly dialling the old man’s number and calling it. Sanji hears a distant ring upstairs and then hangs up. 

“You left some things.” The bar owner says after a few moments, jerking his head up the stairs and going back up.

“I didn’t exactly have a lot of opportunity to pack.” He argues back, following to their previously shared apartment above the bar. The old guy just grunts at that, offering no real opinion.

Seeing nothing else to do Sanji goes into his room, or rather, his old room. He was in rather a tearful hurry last time he was there and the place is quite a mess. Sanji grabs a bin liner and packs a few more sensible things, things he would have missed given the time. His favourite soft woollen knitted v neck sweater for example, or his hoodie with the waves on it. He’d just thrown in what had been to hand last time, but it hardly made for a good wardrobe. 

Finally done with packing he swings the two bags he has left over his shoulder and nearly walks into his old man in the hallway. Zeff eyes him gruffly from under his eyebrows.

“Well, try not to be a shit to people.” Zeff offers as what passes for helpful paternal advice in his world.

“Screw you old bastard! You can’t talk, you’re an asshole to everyone!” Sanji screeches, entirely overreacting. From the wince that Zeff makes he can guess that he was probably a bit loud there.

“Get out, shitty kid. You’re the reason I’m going deaf. Maybe when you’re gone for more than a week my hearing will come back properly!” Zeff snaps and kicks him in the back.

“I hope your eardrums fall out!” Sanji yells and stomps out of the front door. He throws his stuff in the car and drives home, fuming the entire way. 

 

His altercation with Zeff puts him in a shitty mood all afternoon, one that doesn’t get better when Zoro returns either. Though the guitarist is just ignoring him and avoiding him, which is about the best outcome Sanji has at the moment. As long as he’s not off messing up Sanji’s shit or locking him out of his room again, then all is well.

He makes a delicious moussaka for everyone for dinner, with oven baked sweet potato on the side, as well as couscous, bread, olives and hummus for everyone as well. The whole band are effusive with their compliments all through dinner, all except Zoro of course. Zoro kicks his seat back so he’s balancing on the back two legs and scowls at the ceiling with a displeased huff of breath. 

“That was SO amazing Sanji! You have to make more!” Luffy gasps enthusiastically. Robin giggles and Brook nods in agreement. Sanji smiles and lights up a cigarette for a nice post dinner smoke.

“You’re more than welcome Luffy, though I’ve no idea how you can eat so much.” He smirks around his smoke.

“Ahh, but it’s sooo good!” The drummer praises him.

“Look, either one of you just cut to the chase and suck his dick already or we go practice, cause I’m getting sick of hearing this.” Zoro grumbles, rocking his chair back forwards onto all four legs. The rest of the table looks at Zoro with wide stunned eyes.

“Well, I’m gonna let you all contemplate that, either way I’ll be in the studio.” The guitarist adds, standing up and turning to leave.

“You bastard!” Sanji spits, leaping to his own feet and glaring harshly at the punk-haired stroppy teenager of a guitarist’s back.

“Hey, I’d stay there if I were you. It might be your lucky night.” Zoro sneers at him over his shoulder.

“And you stay there all night it’ll certainly be mine.” The guitarist adds under his breath as he actually leaves. 

Sanji grinds his teeth together so hard that the cigarette that he’d just placed between his teeth splits, filling his mouth with tobacco and the fibres of the filter. Sanji spits it out angrily and goes to throw it in the bin, all the while visualising kicking Zoro’s ugly irritating face in.

“I really don’t get what’s up with my guitar bro. I’ve never seen him like this at all.” Franky frowns, gathering up the plates. 

“Mmm, Zoro can be a little abrasive sometimes but I’ve never seen him hate anyone like this before. It’s just so strange.” Brook agrees, collecting glasses with his long bony fingers. 

“It really isn’t anything to do with you, but sorry for him all the same.” Nami sighs, rubbing her forehead as Franky picks up her plate for her. 

“I get that I was never going to be his favourite person after Baby’s-” Sanji starts as he washes his hands, but Nami cuts him off with what (despite her elegance and beauty) can only be described as a screech.

“AGH! Don’t SAY that NAME.” Nami orders him angrily, making Sanji jump.

Their manager’s face is livid and her hands are tense fists on the table top. 

“I hate her so much, don’t even say that name Sanji! Oooh, if I ever see her anywhere _near_ Zoro again I’ll… I’ll-” Nami hisses, scrabbling for just what she might do if she happens upon the previous singer.

“Pour boiling hot bleach down her throat?” Robin suggests, in an elegant voice, looking at Nami over the top of her wineglass. Nonetheless the very suggestion of such torture makes Sanji’s vocal chords wither up in sympathy of such a brutal idea. In fact it makes everyone in the room stare at her with wide shocked eyes, even more so than Zoro’s earlier crude comment.

“Yeah… that’ll do.” Nami agrees after a moment. 

“Just… don’t mention that name.” Nami adds, shooting Sanji a look. Sanji’s still too horrified at the mere idea to even speak. Bleach in your throat would be enough to kill you but _boiling_ bleach!? It would be an understatement to say that it appears that Baby’s exit caused wounds in more people than just Zoro then.

“Good god Robin terrifies me.” Franky mutters as he washes the dishes. Sanji just squeaks pathetically.

“Still, Zoro’s right. We should go practice. So come on, let’s go, leave the cleaning and move it.” Nami says, standing up and clapping her hands. Everyone else seems to shrug, put down whatever they were dealing with and file off. Sanji of course comes along with but begins to reassess his earlier assessment of it being Zoro who had everyone else bending to his whim. On the contrary it seems like Nami is the one everyone listens to and Zoro’s apparently sudden insanity regarding him is just temporarily throwing that out of balance. 

Sanji swallows, getting his throat to relax and comforts himself with the idea that he’d far rather be living under Nami’s beautiful mercy than Zoro’s foul mouth and awful manners. 

He enters the studio, making Zoro look up and fix him with one of those looks that tells Sanji just how pleased the guitarist is at his containing to be alive, which is to say, not at all.

“Well that was quick, are you always so disappointing?” Zoro shoots at him sarcastically. 

“Get fucked.” Sanji argues back, kicking him off of the bean bag on the floor that the moss head is sprawled on. Sanji drinks and warms up his throat a little whilst everyone else attends to their more visible instrument. A lot of people don’t appreciate that a voice is an instrument just like any other, and Sanji knows full well he really should warm up more than he does. All the same, when the others are ready Nami tells them what song they’re starting with. It’s one Sanji’s listened to about ten times already, but not one that he’s played with them yet. 

It’s a love song, of sorts anyway. A bitter broken love song that Sanji would bet Zoro wrote after Baby rightfully abandoned the rude underserving ass. When he’s heard Zoro sing it it’s almost as if he can’t contain himself and could almost scream. It clearly affects the song. Sanji knows full well that he can bring more control to the piece than Zoro can, that’ll put him in his place. 

Zoro begins playing, the guitar takes up a fair portion of the intro. Sanji closes his eyes and settles into the music. Despite his antagonistic relationship with the guitarist he’s actually very _very_ good. Sanji’s never heard him drop a note, misform a chord or accidentally scratch the strings. He swallows, licks his lips, and begins to sing focusing on the scaling up of power throughout the lines. 

“ _"Self-loathing is quaint,"_  
you told me, showing restraint.  
Now you're gone and I'm lost,  
In the swells I am tossed -  
bobbing and choking and losing the fight in the fog.  
You said, "Forever..." Tell me, why can't you stay?  
  
I'd ride in your pocket all day,  
but I just don't fit.  
Say the word and I'll change.  
I'm throwin' a party tonight.  
I drink more than a sailor on shore.  
Pour the rum in my eyes, tell me lies.”

The lyrics are rather self-indulgently sad, if very creative. Sanji would never write lyrics like that, not that he can write at all. Zoro lends his voice to the parts where he’s needed and Sanji continues, trying to ignore the way Zoro’s judgemental eyes watch him.  
  
 _“Oh, oh-oh-oh, Oh, oh-oh-oh_  
Drunk since Saturday,   
without you, without restraint.  
It still stings where you stung.  
Water swings in my lungs.  
I'm starving for words that would ration my sadness away.  
Tell me, "Forever..."   
Tell me you'll come back to stay.  
  
I'd ride in your pocket all day,  
but I just don't fit.  
Say the word and I'll change.  
I'm throwin' a party tonight.  
I drink more than a sailor on shore.  
Pour the rum in my eyes, tell me lies.”

Sanji continues but Zoro’s judging look gets harder. He clenches his hand into a fist and focuses on his technical ability and how he knows it’s better than Zoro’s. He makes the notes smooth and the transitions seamless. He lets his voice arch over the lyrics, delivering them cleanly and clearly, not half shouted out like Zoro’s version is.   
  
_“You were the mermaid for me_  
'til one day you found your feet  
leaving me in this god-awful bottle  
a model of heartache and grief.  
  
I'd ride in your pocket all day,  
but I just don't fit.  
Say the word and I'll change.  
I'm throwin' a party tonight.  
I drink more than a sailor on shore.  
Pour the rum in my eyes, tell me lies.”

He finishes feeling pleased with himself. He looks to Zoro to see the other man watching him quietly. Sanji thinks that he might have actually impressed the other man for a moment before the guitarist takes his guitar off, sliding the strap over his head with a sigh. 

“This is a waste of my time. Why did you even hire him Nami? He can’t do this job.” Zoro says, turning to look at Nami through the window. 

“What the _hell_?!” Sanji snarls, shoving Zoro in the shoulder. 

“Get lost, cook. I wasn’t talking to you.” Zoro snaps back irritably. 

“You were talking about me! Look if you’ve got a problem with my singing then let’s hear it, or are you just going to admit that your problem is with me because you just don’t want _anyone_ in this job no matter how well they can sing!” Sanji accuses furiously.

“You CAN’T sing!” Zoro screams in Sanji’s face.

Now that actually makes Sanji step back, the rage flowing off of the guitarist is palpable, his energy giving his words far more force than they truly deserved. Zoro sighs and pinches his own nose in frustration.

“Don’t get me wrong. You have range, better than mine. You can hold a note better than I can and you’ve got more power in your lungs than I do. I’m not blind, but you’re not singing. You’re mimicking.” Zoro says with a sigh, putting his precious guitar down in its stand. 

“Of course I’m mimicking, I didn’t write the songs.” Sanji points out. 

“Then you fucking make them yours, you’re supposed to own what you sing. I might not be a great singer but at least I own something when I do it. I put my emotions into what I sing, you just copy the sounds of someone feeling something. You’ve got all the emotional range of a sponge, and it _shows._ You can’t sing about love because you’ve never been in love, and you can’t sing about loss because I don’t think you’ve ever lost anything worth losing _._ ” The guitarist says, pointing an accusing finger in Sanji’s chest. 

Sanji can only splutter indignantly at that frankly ridiculous accusation. Zoro’s the one who’s too emotionally retarded to realise that Sanji isn’t the same person as his ex-girlfriend and to therefore stop taking out his issues about getting dumped onto him. Zoro’s the one who seems to only have three settings of personality, namely stupidly angry, irritatingly indifferent or nauseatingly sarcastic. How _dare_ Zoro accuse _him_ of having no emotional depth?!

“What, so you had a girl break your heart and that makes you special somehow? You think that somehow you get some great singing power just because you’ve suffered a little? When really what happened was you got slapped and broken up with in front of a crowd. You just hate me because I’m not her, you’re the one not in control of their emotions.” Sanji snarls back viciously. Zoro’s eyes widen and Sanji all but drinks up the flash of pain the runs through the guitarist’s face. 

“I’m plenty in control, and at least I have emotions beyond spite and anger, unlike you.” Zoro says coldly. 

“But hey, since I’m so biased, anyone else is welcome to tell me that I’m wrong. If you’re such a good singer ask any of them if they believed you when you sang.” Zoro challenges, gesturing to the rest of the band. Sanji looks over to see everyone staring tensely at the two of them. 

“He’ll get it Zoro, trust me.” Luffy says confidently. Sanji winces, hurt slightly at Luffy’s words. Whilst the other guy’s confidence is nice, the fact that he thinks Sanji _will_ get it says very clearly that he thinks that he doesn’t have it now. 

“Maybe let’s call that a night.” Nami suggests weakly from her place behind the glass studio wall. 

“Get a new job.” Zoro says quietly to Sanji before turning and walking out. 

Sanji bites his lip and resists the urge to scream. He feels awful, both from the argument and saying something so cruel when he’d promised not to but also because his new friends apparently think that Zoro has a point. A well of self-doubt fills him, maybe he shouldn’t be here. 

“You’ll get it.” Luffy repeats, slapping Sanji on the shoulder.

“I didn’t realise that I didn’t have it.” Sanji sniffs, tugging his shoulder away. 

Luffy looks at him thoughtfully for a few moments before turning to the window.

“Chopper, send Sanji the file of that song. Let him listen to it later.” Luffy calls.

“Sure thing!” Chopper nods and starts typing. 

Sanji excuses himself quickly, not letting himself meet Usopp’s eyes. He doesn’t know what expression the keyboardist will be wearing right now but after what Sanji and Zoro had just said he doesn’t want to see. Everything just feels like it’s falling apart. 

He climbs the stairs up to his floor, his attention only pulled to the world outside the window when he hears the sound of tyres on gravel. He looks out of the window to see Zoro pedalling away on his bike, leaving a spray of gravel in his wake. 

His phone pings and for a moment he thinks that it must be Zoro saying something malicious about him on twitter again but to his surprise it’s not. Evidently one of the things Nami has put on his new phone is something to share files between them, and the one that’s come into his phone is entitled “drunken lament – Sanji” and it’s an audio file. 

He sighs and goes to his room. He plugs his big headphones into his phone and listens to Zoro’s version first. To him it still sounds sloppy and uncontrolled, Sanji just can’t ever let himself sing like that, but even so he can hear the emotion in Zoro’s voice, even if it overrides his singing ability. 

Then he listens to the recording of his own. It’s still pretty raw, Chopper hasn’t quite worked all of his magic on it yet- not that he’d expect him to for what clearly isn’t going to be a final take of the song. Even so it’s a little strange hearing his own voice pumped into his ears. 

He listens.

His voice is controlled, he can hear a few places where he could improve his control but… well. Zoro might have a point. Technically speaking the song is good, his voice is strong, controlled, on key and otherwise very good. But there’s no real life to it. He sees what Zoro meant when he said that he didn’t believe Sanji when he sang. The song is about love and loss and desperation but when he sings it they seems like just words. 

He sings the song again, quietly to himself, just loud enough so that he can hear. He tries to put emotion into it, to feel that tangled mix of love and desperation that the song alludes to but he just can’t. He hasn’t ever felt that for someone. So he tries to fake it, he tries to imagine it but it sounds even more false than before.

He flicks through Zoro’s songs, the ones that are about feeling crazy or life in general he can do and the ones about crazy fantastical situations like Lake Pontchartrain he can do easily. But as soon as it veers into that snarled love/hate feeling he falls flat. So many of Zoro’s songs seem to be like that, about loving someone and being destroyed by someone, they speak of having someone rip your heart out and hating them for it but still in love. It just doesn’t make any sense.

The more songs he tries the more despondent he becomes. Is he really too young to do this? Is he too naïve of how the world work or how love really is to sing about it? He certainly doesn’t want the experiences that Zoro has had, not the unpleasant ones anyway, but does he have to have them in order to be able to carry the songs off? Should he actually just… go home?

Thankfully his sense of spite kicks in. Fuck that. He wasn’t just going to roll over and let Zoro have his way. So spite is the only emotion Zoro thinks he has? Well fine, he’s going to learn how to sing as if he’s felt all that Zoro has felt and he’s going to be better than Zoro thinks he is and he’s going to make that punk-haired ASS eat his own words!

Fuming he leaps off of his bed, not even bothering to take his headphones out and instead leaving them around his neck. He quickly descends the stairs and steps quickly over to Usopp’s room. He knocks on the door and after a short pause opens it. 

Usopp’s room is full of windows. He has a corner room and windows stretch from floor to ceiling on two walls of his room, they give views of the front of the house and the grounds to the side, it feels like some amazing lofty perch. From the ceiling delicate mobiles hang, not like child’s mobiles but elaborately balanced things made of copper, all twirling gently in some non-existent breeze. 

Usopp is sat, looking at him with surprise, on a long ornate wooden bench seat pushed against one of the windows. 

“Sanji.” He remarks, putting his book down and looking at the singer with curious brown eyes.

“Tell me about Zoro.” He demands, coming into the room. 

“Considering the last thing I told you about Zoro-” Usopp begins with a frown.

“I know, I messed up, I shouldn’t have said what I did. I just… Zoro was right okay? I listened to it, I’m just… faking those feelings, and not well either. If I stand any chance of doing this well I’m going to need to get into Zoro’s head, he’s the one who wrote these songs, well, him and you.” Sanji concedes. He drags a frustrated hand through his hair.

“I want to be in this band, and I like the music, I want to sing it well but… if I can’t feel what Zoro was feeling when he wrote them… or at least can’t imagine it then what chance do I stand? So please, help me?” he pleads.

Usopp’s expression softens and he sighs. The keyboard player pats the bench next to him and Sanji comes in and sits down. He pulls his knees up and looks at Usopp hopefully.

“Tell me… tell me what it was like when they were together. What did he see in her, why was she with him? If she really betrayed you all so badly then what makes you say that he still loves her?” Sanji questions all in a rush. He needs to get into Zoro’s head, he needs to feel what he felt, or else he might as well leave.

Usopp leans back and chews his lip a little, Sanji doesn’t know if it’s in thought or reluctance to talk. 

“You don’t use any of this against Zoro, okay?” Usopp orders him quietly.

“I swear, I just want to understand the bastard.” He agrees, understanding full well that if he does break his word again he’ll probably be kicked out of the band altogether. 

“When I was seven my mother died, leaving me all alone. There was an orphanage nearby so I didn’t have to go anywhere really, but it wasn’t exactly somewhere where people cared about you, you were just a space in a bed.” Usopp says bitterly.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” Sanji apologises awkwardly.

“That’s not the point of this story, this is about Zoro.” Usopp says, shaking his head and making his curly black hair shake.

“Zoro was the only kid at my school who didn’t look at me like… like…” Usopp seems to struggle for the words but Sanji is able to fill them in just fine on his own.

“Like there must be something wrong with you?” Sanji states softly. The keyboard player looks up at him with startled eyes, his expression fades to a curious kind of understanding. 

“My mother left me and my old man when I was five. Just… one day she wasn’t there and never came back. Go on.” Sanji says quickly, not wanting to linger especially on that tale at all. 

“Well, Zoro was my friend. He stopped the other kids from picking on me, he looked out for me, we were buddies. Even though he had a home and father and a sister, he still hung out with me. His sister played guitar, the white acoustic that Zoro has. She was so much better than him and it drove him mad, no matter how much he played and practiced she was always better. It was so funny.” Usopp chuckles to himself. Only… only then Usopp’s face turns sad and he looks out the window silently for a moment, long enough for Sanji to wonder why if Zoro’s sister is the one who owns that white acoustic in the video how come Zoro has it. And it’s long enough for him to realise that this bit of the story doesn’t have a happy ending. 

“She died. It was an accident but, she died. Zoro’s father couldn’t take it and Zoro ended up living with me in the orphanage. But he was still the one looking out for me, even though he was the one who…” Usopp shakes his head and trails off.

“He’s like that you see, Zoro. He thinks of everyone else ahead of him, he’d do anything to help the people he cares about. He’s not this evil bastard you think he is.” Usopp sighs, looking Sanji in the eyes. 

“He’s not exactly done a lot to convince me of that.” Sanji points out.

“He’s not usually like that.” Usopp reasons. 

Sanji bites his lip and considers that a little more. 

“So, Baby?” Sanji prompts. 

“Well, we didn’t have parents any more. Some people do and perhaps… shouldn’t. Baby went to school with us, you got to know all the other musicians that the school, a fight for securing practice rooms and everything. Baby had parents, or a father anyway.” The keyboard player says distantly. 

“He was… awful. He’d hurt her, get violently angry. Zoro found out and… well, he did what Zoro always does. He stepped in. He tried to get her out of there, tried to help her out when things got bad. But that kind of thing doesn’t just stop, so one day he just wouldn’t leave. Nothing Baby or I said would make him go so instead of hurting her Baby’s father attacked Zoro instead, and unlike Baby Zoro fought back. He nearly got himself killed in the process too, if you ever see him without his shirt on then you’ll see the scar that he got defending her.” Usopp sighs. 

That… that surprises Sanji. He’s always considered himself the kind of guy that would go to any length to defend a woman but it seems that Zoro isn’t so dissimilar from himself in that regard. Except he’d never grab Nami like Zoro did. But… well, the red-haired beauty did say that Zoro wouldn’t have hurt her in a million years he was just… what was the term she’d used? Barking and not biting? 

“That got him locked away, which was what Zoro wanted I guess. But, somewhere before or during all that… I’m not sure when exactly they became a thing. And I guess it’s hard to break a bond that you’ve gone through so much for you know?” Usopp shrugs. 

“I thought that they’d drift apart or something eventually but… something was wrong there and I don’t know what. It was like she could make him do almost anything that she wanted, I don’t think he could say no to her.” The other man frowns unhappily.

“He said no when she tried to take him with her.” Sanji points out, trying to disguise his guess as a simple statement. 

“He told you?” Usopp asks sceptically. Sanji laughs and shakes his head, as if Zoro would tell him that. 

“Baby had said choose on the video and immediately went off to form her own band after stealing a bunch of your songs. If Zoro’s the main writer it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that she had intended on taking him with her. You think he regrets saying no to her?” He questions.

“I don’t think he regrets saying no, I think he regrets that she asked. I think maybe part of him is still waiting for her to come back, I don’t think he entirely wants her to but I know some of him does. But of course, if the job’s no longer open because you’re here, well… that means it’s really over.” Usopp theorises with a shrug.

“Well that’d explain it a little I guess.” Sanji grumbles. Zoro still doesn’t need to be quite such a huge unreasonable bastard about it. Even if Sanji does represent the end of his relationship for good with Baby it’s not as if he’d ever actually leapt between them and run off with her or anything. Hell he’s never even met the woman!

“What was she actually like though?” He asks with a frown. People keep telling him what she did or how much she hurt Zoro but no one’s ever actually told him what she was really like. 

Usopp seems to think for a moment, perhaps trying to come up with a fair assessment of her character.

“Messed up, I guess. She needed to be needed by someone all the time. Like, if you needed her help with something she was all over that, she liked to feel important. She knew how to make Zoro happy and the fact that Zoro was happiest with her often seemed to make her happy. I don’t think she liked that he was happy with us too though. She didn’t like that he could do songs without her, or that he could write with me as well as her.” The other man scowls angrily. 

“She could be cruel too, but Zoro would always say it was nothing. I tried to keep out of it and whenever I did try to intervene I got the feeling I made it worse. But, it doesn’t matter now, he’s away from her.” The keyboard player says with an air of finality as he gets up from the bench. Sanji senses that the conversation is over. 

“Thanks, I guess. I promise I won’t say anything.” He vows as he stands up.

“Good.” Usopp nods.

Sanji takes his leave then, heading back upstairs to his room. He falls back on his bed and re-listens to all of the songs that he’s been unable to really sing. He tries to put himself in Zoro’s shoes, to imagine how it must feel to be bound to someone like that, through such a traumatic and painful history. 

As Zoro’s words play through his ears through his headphones he thinks about Zoro stepping between Baby and her awful father. That is something that he can really imagine doing himself. Perhaps that’s where he should start relating to Zoro, it’s… a common point of reference as it were. From there he can use his imagination. He can imagine saving a girl, imagine falling for her. But perhaps… perhaps even though you’ve had a dramatic fairy-tale beginning doesn’t mean that it’s meant to be. But how to you disentangle yourself from someone like that? Perhaps Zoro is proof that you can’t really. 

He starts to drift off, listening to the music on repeat. His last thought when he drifts off is wondering just what this scar of Zoro’s is like. 

By morning he’s somehow unplugged his headphones from his phone, which is lost for a little while in his bed and takes some searching to find. Still, he thinks that perhaps he might be starting to get it now. For once he doesn’t head to the kitchen right away to start cooking, instead he diverts to the studio. It’s empty and quiet so he slips inside the main room, knowing full well that it’ll automatically be recording and he can listen back to it later. 

Seeing as the rest of the band isn’t here he’s going to need some music. He slides his headphones back over his ears and picks the first love song that jumps out at him. When he’d first heard this song he’d thought it was about having broken up with someone and sleeping with them again because you were listening to your dick. But now he thinks that perhaps it’s about being separated from someone who you really know is bad news, someone that your head is telling you not to be with, but your heart gets in the way. When he listens to Zoro sing it he can hear the way he almost pleads for her and where he’s all but yelling that it’s a terrible idea. 

He presses play and leans into the mic. Zoro’s guitar brings him in as he starts to sing and feels Zoro’s conflicted emotions.

“ _Here I am, at home again, this rainy avenue_  
put me in my proper place, I'm not the one for you,  
but you're here now, can you come in?  
It's freezing...  
I'd found a way to blur your face and smear the words you said  
You made me feel alive again, I wish we'd never met  
but you're here now, can you come in?  
I'm freezing...”

He can just imagine Zoro standing in the doorway of this very building. The rain pouring down outside and Baby at the door, asking him to let her in. He keeps his eyes shut and imagines Zoro’s indecision. He shouldn’t let her in but he wants to so very badly. His head saying no and his heart saying yes.  
  
 _“I finally let go and learned to live without you,_  
after all those weeks alone, but now you're back for more.  
I'm tryin' to fight it off but there's a mutiny below.  
  
There were nights when I was sure your love was all I had  
Pining at the door you left through, God it hurt so bad,  
but you're here now, you're making eyes  
I'm breaking...”

He feels Zoro starting to waver, to give in even though he can see how much it’ll hurt. He can feel that Zoro knows in his head that it’ll hurt but how could he say no? He remembers Usopp’s words about Zoro finding it almost impossible not to help people. If he was in this situation Sanji would put his money on Zoro letting her in. __  
  
“I finally let go and learned to live without you,  
after all those weeks alone, but now you're back for more.  
I'm tryin' to fight it off but there's a mutiny below.  
I finally let go but there's a mutiny below.  
  
"Just one more night..." you ask so tenderly - a softer side  
I'd longed so long to see.  
So long…”

He can almost see the cold and drenched woman at the door of the house and Zoro cracking, the sense that his heart might convince him that this time might really be different. 

““ _You slip inside, we'll work it out_  
tomorrow....  
  
I finally let go and learned to live without you,  
after all those weeks alone, but now you're back for more.  
I'm tryin' to fight it off but there's a mutiny below.

 __  
I finally let go,  
I'm tryin' to fight it off but there's a mutiny  
from everything left but my soul.  
I can't hang on - let me go.”

Sanji slides the headphones off of his ears and looks at the mic. He’s no real idea what he sounded like there, but it felt right. He should get Chopper to cut the song and put it into a file so that he can listen to it and then perhaps trying to sing it again when he can hear his own voice in his ears instead of Zoro’s. 

“Wow.” A voice makes him jump about a foot in the air. 

In the doorway to the studio is Zoro but behind him is Nami, it was her who spoke. She’s peering excitedly at him around Zoro’s arm, her beautiful smile big and beaming. But it’s Zoro’s expression that he’s drawn to. It’s… well, Sanji isn’t sure what it is. There’s surprise there on that dumb face but Sanji can see an echo of all the emotions that he’d just imagined, as if Zoro wasn’t quite there but was instead seeing the vision in Sanji’s head. Perhaps it had been real. 

Zoro squints at him for a moment or two, as if sizing him up. Under this scrutiny Sanji stands up a little straighter, juts his jaw in a challenge. He’s just begging Zoro to find some other flaw to accuse him of. No matter what Zoro says to tell him that he can’t do this job, no matter what Zoro demands of him he’ll surpass his expectations and imagined limitations. Zoro can bring it. 

But Zoro says nothing. He takes one step back, then another and then turns to go, with one last fleeting look at Sanji. He doesn’t run off, he’s not emotional, he’s not angry. He just leaves. At first Sanji’s pissed. But then he considers that Zoro had no criticism, no biting remark about him not being good enough, no demand that he leave. Nothing. 

Sanji grins as Nami compliments him, saying how she knew he’d get it. But what matters to Sanji is just how much he proved Zoro wrong. 

“Come on, let’s have breakfast, yeah?” Nami smiles at him and tugs his arm as she leads him to the kitchen. 

Sanji makes whatever the rest of the band wants, calls for pancakes, cooked sausages, fruit and more. He serves it all up happily. Zoro remains tellingly silent. Sanji is nice about it, he doesn’t gloat at all. Not even when Nami tells the others just how good Sanji was and how Chopper enthuses about perhaps trying to cut his performance together with already recorded music for that song to see how well it fits. Nami discusses recording it again with Sanji’s voice instead of Zoro’s and releasing it as part of his debut to the band. 

The guitarist still stays mute through all of that, though this time he sticks around to wash up whilst Sanji dries and puts away and Franky brings dishes to the sink.

“Shit Zoro, again? You know for someone who rides a bike as often as you do, you’re remarkably bad at it.” Franky exclaims from behind Sanji. 

Sanji turns back around from replacing glasses in the cupboard to see Franky pulling at Zoro’s sleeve and pulling his arm out of the water. Zoro’s long black sleeves are rolled up to his biceps to keep them out of the water and fresh bruises litter his forearms, even more so now that he looks Sanji thinks he can see a purpling bruise on the guitarist’s chin too.

“Blame joggers who run at stupid hours of the night dressed entirely in black, not me. Either I swerve to avoid them or I run them over.” Zoro snaps, pulling his arm back and scowling at the washing as he scrubs a plate. 

“At least you have an excuse for looking like you got dragged through a hedge backwards then Zoro.” Nami teases playfully from the table, her dazzling with amazing Sanji as always. 

Sanji tunes out their argument. The thought of Zoro and injuries makes him less curious about Zoro’s apparently noble attempt to save a runner’s life by suddenly taking his bike off-road and, from the sounds of it, down a ditch. Instead he becomes even more curious about this apparent scar under his shirt that he got instead of Baby. Now that he’d like to see. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs are both by Ludo this time. Drunken Lament and Mutiny Below


	4. Chapter 4

Sanji can’t really say what it was he expected when he finally nailed singing with the emotions that Zoro intended, but he certainly expected Zoro to react in _some_ way. As it is the damn green headed fucker hasn’t said a word the entire way up to the kitchen and despite Nami’s wonderful praise Sanji finds himself irked. 

It’s not even like Zoro’s said anything bad either, not a word has crossed the fucker’s lips. 

Nothing. Nada.

To his shame when he comes in the kitchen he’s so agitated by Zoro that it takes him a few seconds to notice the gorgeous lady in the kitchen who he’s never met before. She’s got china pale skin, gorgeous blonde hair and the most chocolate eyes that Sanji could just melt in. She lights up when she sees him, her beautiful mouth pulling into a pleased smile that just freezes Sanji to the spot as if the very heavens had opened and transfixed him. 

“Oh! You must be the new singer, Sanji isn’t it?” She exclaims, looking at him. 

“Yes, Sanji, Kaya. Kaya, Sanji.” Nami says, introducing them. 

“Very pleased to meet you.” Sanji blurts out, stepping forward to her.

“Usopp’s told me so much about you, he says you’re very good.” Kaya smiles angelically at him.

“He… has?” Sanji blinks in confusion, looking at the keyboardist sitting next this angelic creature, he apparently is currently too busy reading something to even pay attention to the conversation at all. 

“Kaya is Usopp’s fiancée.” Nami explains with a smile. 

Oh yeah, Franky mentioned something like that when he first came here. But to be honest it’d fallen completely out of his head until now. Usopp is engaged. He looks at Kaya and her radiant beauty and then at Usopp. Despite his best intentions and nicest feelings towards the other musician Sanji can’t help but have a moment of thinking _‘really?’_ because as nice as Usopp is he’s a little goofy looking and Kaya is drop dead gorgeous. Still, that’s not his business and all the better for Usopp for actually managing to get such a beauty into his life.

“Then it’s definitely lovely to meet you, have you eaten already? Can I get you breakfast?” He offers quickly with a smile. 

“Oh, well, that would be wonderful, thank you!” she smiles at him.

“So when is the wedding?” Sanji asks curiously, moving past the counters and slipping an apron on. Zoro is leaning against the edge of a cabinet glued to his phone with a scowl on, but evidently he has been paying some attention as it’s him who answers instead of Usopp or Kaya.

“Two weeks exactly.” Zoro says flatly, shoving his phone back into his pocket. 

“Zoro is the best man, he’s taking it very seriously.” Kaya mock whispers with a teasing smile on her face. 

“There, that’s the flower guy’s receipt sent to you, he sent it through to me after I fixed his fuck up.” Zoro shouts across to Usopp. 

“Thanks.” The long nosed guy sighs in relief and crosses something off of the sheet of paper that he’s reading from. 

“That’s pretty soon, are you nervous?” Sanji asks with a smile.

“Of course not!” Kaya giggles gorgeously, Usopp on the other hand seems to turn a few shades paler and makes an anxious squeaking in the back of his throat. 

“You worry too much.” Kaya adds, clucking her tongue and flicking Usopp’s nose. 

Sanji starts throwing a wide assortment of breakfast together for everyone whilst Zoro studious ignores that he’s even alive, but he’s not harassing him or openly mocking him so you know, whatever. Perhaps with enough time Zoro will even warm to him. Maybe this is a step into breaking through Zoro’s complete bastard shell. 

“Zoro, the dresses…” Usopp asks in his highly strung voice.

“Nami and Robin’s are coming tomorrow, calm down, it’ll be fine.” Zoro says soothingly.

“But the chairs-” Usopp panics again.

“Dealing with it, Usopp. They’re fixing it.” Zoro cuts him off. 

“But- but-” The keyboardist panics. 

Zoro huffs and rounds the counter to go to Usopp, Sanji watches him out of the corner of his eye with extreme interest. Zoro ruffles his hand through Usopp’s hair and falls into the chair next to him.

“Seriously, calm down. I’d sooner burn my guitars than let anything ruin your big day, so chill out.” Zoro snorts. 

“Yeah… yeah okay. Thanks man.” Usopp mumbles and leans his head onto Zoro’s shoulder. Zoro just chuckles to himself, deep and low and throws his arm around Usopp’s side, warm and familiar.

Sanji only just manages to avoid burning the eggs. Sure, he’s heard of Zoro being nice but he’s never seen it. Zoro’s been a moody bitch the whole time he’s been here but now he’s all buddy buddy with Usopp? Sure Usopp had _said_ about it but Sanji had assumed that he was exaggerating or something. He’d thought Zoro’s niceness was like unicorns or free elections in third world countries – something that people talked about but didn’t actually exist. But here Zoro was being all sweet and shit. 

Holy balls. 

Zoro and Usopp are still talking and Zoro is even being sweet to Kaya, apparently when Zoro wants to he can be a total ball of tooth-rotting sweetness. Sanji is about having an aneurism over this knowledge. So it really is just him that turns Zoro from this into the dick he’s been of late. 

A snarl of offence lashes through his system at that thought. He’s been nothing but nice to Zoro since- okay, well that wasn’t true. He’s been mostly cordial or even pleasant to the other man, he doesn’t deserve this disparity of treatment! It’s not fair!

“Chopper, you need to mix Sanji’s vocals, I want to hear what it’s like recorded with the music behind it. It was amazing you should have heard!” Nami gushes, completely erasing Sanji’s black mood. He looks over to see the manager smiling enthusiastically as their audio wizard that is Chopper. 

“Sure, I’d be interested to hear that too.” Chopper agrees happily. 

“Sanji managed it then? That was quick!” Luffy laughs happily. Sanji doesn’t know what it is about Luffy but the kid always seems to be amused about something, he doesn’t know if the guy is stupid and easily amused or if he’s seeing some bigger picture that Sanji isn’t and just likes seeing all the pieces fall into place. He doesn’t think he’ll ever be sure one way or the other. 

He slides the finished breakfast onto the table with a smile and everyone except Zoro thanks him. Fucking Zoro. He supposes that at least Zoro isn’t outright insulting him now. 

“I think it’ll just be better to re-record the whole thing at the next full practice, the whole point of Sanji singing is to let Zoro focus on his guitar work, it’ll be better for both of them.” Chopper reasons.

“Well, okay. But that’ll take time. Couldn’t you just give us a cut-together preview?” Nami asks with a slight frown pinching her perfect orange eyebrows. 

“I can… but… really I insist that it has to be re-recorded sooner or later.” Chopper insists.

“Sure thing, you can do that right Sanji?” Nami asks, batting her eyelashes at him flintily.

“OF COURSE MY LOVE!” He crows joyfully, flailing his arms around and nearly stabbing Franky with a fork in the process.

“Idiot.” Zoro mutters.

“What did you say, asshole?” Sanji snarls, jabbing his dangerous fork in Zoro’s direction. 

“I said, you’re an idiot. Is your hearing shot too?” Zoro challenges him back, taking his arm from around the back of Usopp’s seat and putting it on the table with a fist curled up threateningly. 

“See, this is what I mean.” Nami mumbles to Kaya.

“Can’t you even _try_ to be nice to me?!” He accuses the guitarist angrily. 

“No.” Zoro says flatly with a smug grin.

“Well fake it then, make believe, just be less of an asshole!” Sanji yells, throwing his arms in the air. Anything would be better than Zoro’s random antagonism. 

“Yeah, I’m so filled with love for you it deeply sickens me.” Zoro retorts, though some strange expression flits across his face for a moment that Sanji doesn’t recognise.

“You know the least you could do is take it back, all the… the vicious remarks and completely uncalled for verbal attacks! You’re not this much of a dick to anyone else! What did _I_ do?!” Sanji demands, leaping to his feet and jabbing an accusing finger in Zoro’s direction.

“Oh my.” Kaya mumbles.

“They’re always like this.” Robin sighs, distracting Sanji slightly.

“Wait- say that again.” Zoro says from his position leaning over the table and staring at Sanji. 

“What, about all the vicious remarks and verbal attacks? How you’re at total bastard to me for no reason? That part?” He shoots back.

Zoro has the strangest expression on his face, he’s looking at Sanji but Sanji suspects that he’s not really looking at him. More like Zoro is looking through him at something else. The singer almost turns to look over his shoulder as Zoro’s expression is so intensely focused.

“I have to go.” The guitarist mumbles and dashes from the table. 

“Oh no you don’t!” Sanji yelps and disentangles himself from the chair behind him, giving chase to Zoro who has fled out into the hallway.

“What’s your problem already?!” He yells up the stairs as Zoro disappears, but the idiot doesn’t even answer him.

“GOOD! Just go! Because I can’t fucking stand it when you’re around!” He yells up at Zoro. This actually makes the other man stop and look at him again for a second before disappearing with another burst of speed. 

“FINE!” He screams up the stairs. He is not fine. He wants to kick the ever loving snot out of the green haired bastard and roll around in his blood out of sheer maniacal glee. 

Sanji pinches the bridge of his nose. Zoro is not good for his blood pressure, he gives him some really messed up thoughts too. He’s always been known for his somewhat short fuse but Zoro just gets him from mellow to murderous in _seconds_ and there’s no way that should be possible. 

He hisses and mutters curses and death threats under his breath as he descends the plush stairs in what has rapidly become his home. Nami is looking up at him with despairing eyes and he really hates to let her down or disappoint her. He’s disappointing himself too but somehow Zoro just seems to bypass his brain and just go straight into Sanji’s emotions, he’s like some kind of virus, he feels like he’s been hacked. 

“Sorry mellorine.” He apologises hastily.

“All the time?” Kaya whispers to Robin.

“Indeed.” Robin confirms, making Sanji’s shoulders drop unhappily. Goddamnit, now Zoro was giving him a bad name and he wasn’t even here to do it! 

“Come on.” Nami beckons and he dutifully follows.

His lovely angel leads them all downstairs into the recording studio. Chopper is already at his seat with headphones over his ears, doing something remarkably complicated looking with software. Fancy sliders on the deck are going this way and that, Choppers fingers fly over the keyboard as he cuts up music and stitches it back together, healing over the seams and making everything better than before. 

What’s more impressive is that the little audio genius can focus with Luffy bouncing excitedly on the chair next to him, his grin wide and expectant. 

“Okay… It’s just rough because I really want this whole thing re-recorded, but it’ll do for a trial.” Chopper sighs, sliding off his headphones and messing up his out of control brown tufty hair as he does so. The boy presses play and Zoro’s guitar kicks in. 

So far so familiar but he’s startled out of his skin when his own voice comes through the speakers. It’s smoother and more controlled than Zoro’s was but as the song progresses he can hear all the raw emotion and despite it having just come out of his mouth this very morning it still tugs at his heart strings and the imagined memory of Zoro’s dilemma with his previous love shoots through him. 

Damnit. Why is it so much easier to be sympathetic to Zoro when he’s not here being an ass? He feels like he can relate so much more to the Zoro that his songs speak of than he can to the sulking angry brat that he knows in person. 

As the last wrenching note of his echoes through the air his bandmates come to life, all looking at him excited and happy. Franky slaps Sanji on the back so hard that it makes his teeth rattle a little bit. 

“That sounds so good Sanji!” Kaya beams at him. Behind her Usopp smiles happily at Sanji and he thinks that maybe Usopp is happy because Sanji has finally got into Zoro’s head. It’s helped with his singing, sure enough but it’s not helped him deal any better with the guitarist himself. 

“I knew you could do it.” Luffy grins at him.

“Thanks Luffy.” He finds himself smiling. Luffy is always happy but not ridiculously easy to please. Despite his odd position of drummer it’s obvious that Luffy is still the frontman of the band and so he’s pleased that Luffy sees fit to praise him. 

“Nami, we’re going to do a show before the wedding.” Luffy declares as if that’s that. The others all look to Nami for orders but even in his short time here Sanji has noticed that any serious statement from Luffy is met with obedience from all and Nami enforcing Luffy’s will with an iron fist. He just wishes that Luffy would order Zoro not to be a jerk. 

“So soon?” Sanji balks, wide eyed. He’s still not sure that Zoro won’t just up and kill him on stage. They’re still not able to co-operate unless they’re sharing the same microphone and ordered not to move from it on pain of death, surely they can’t do that on stage. They’re not ready yet, surely?

“I’ll arrange it as soon as I can.” Nami nods business-like and pulls her phone out.

“Oh my, Zoro won’t like that.” Brook comments quietly from the back of the room. Sanji almost jumps at the sound, to be honest he frequently forgets that Brook is there at all.

“So don’t tell him then.” Nami shrugs and returns her attention to the phone.

“I don’t think that plan will work long term Nami.” Brook reasons, but Nami has already ignored him for whoever has just picked up on the other end of the phone. She issues cheerful greetings to whoever it is as she leaves the room for some quiet. 

“I’m… not getting in the middle of that.” Sanji mutters to himself. Zoro hates him enough already without him being the bearer of more bad news. 

Still, he’s excited about the idea of a show, even if he feels a little nervous about it too. 

“Well, I need to go to class. We can record this tonight, perhaps. Zoro doesn’t have work tonight so we ought to be fine.” Chopper says with a nod, hopping off of his chair.

“I’ll give you a ride.” Sanji offers. Truthfully he doesn’t have anything much to do in town, and he doesn’t feel like seeing Zeff either, he just doesn’t want to be cooped up in the same building with Zoro all day.

“Oh, thank you Sanji.” Chopper smiles up at him.

“No problem, come on. It was lovely to meet you Kaya.” He adds, giving a deep bow to Usopp’s lovely fiancée as he goes.

“You too Sanji, I look forward to the show.” She replies with a small wave. Usopp isn’t paying attention to what she’s saying, his attention is on a quiet conversation with Robin, but Sanji can’t help but notice the way Usopp’s hand lingers on Kaya’s waist. It’s as if he’s part of her even when he’s not actively thinking about her, it’s sweet. 

 

Sanji tosses his keys up in the air and catches them over and over as he walks Chopper to his car. The little prodigy follows quietly. Out of everyone in the band Sanji kinda feels like he knows the kid the least, it could be just the age difference but he feels he’s got an okay read off of everyone else so far. 

Brook is often reading and drinking tea with Robin in dead silence, he’s learnt that around Robin Brook tends to say stupid things so one of the few ways they can spend time together alone is in silence with their mutual interests of tea and books. Whilst the two of them can be a little dark they’re both funny in their own way and Sanji gets on with them pretty well. Franky is exuberant but far smarter than he appears, he suspects the same of Luffy too. Usopp and Nami both talk to him enough and he likes them both (especially his gorgeous Nami~!) 

He spends more than enough time interacting with Zoro, though he obviously neither understands nor likes the man. Chopper though… Chopper has let himself fade mostly into the background. So as the little prodigy slides into Sanji’s car in his oversized pink and blue coat with his pink hat on his head and his big headphones on his neck, the singer can’t help but feel like this could be an opportunity to get to know him. It actually ends up being Chopper who speaks first.

“What happened to your stereo?” The kid gasps in horror, noticing the same thing that Zoro did. 

“Oh, I ripped it out in a fit of anger. The speakers still work and it can play music from my phone, it’s Bluetooth or something, but the radio was driving me crazy. Every stupid song just- agh. Stuck.” He grimaces in frustration, tapping the side of his head to emphasise just where they got stuck. 

“That’s fascinating. Does it work with anything you make musical?” Chopper asks him wide eyed and curious. Sanji glances at the kid as he drives.

“Yeah, it’s how I remember phone numbers, make them into a little ditty and they’re in there forever.” Sanji answers with a shrug instantly remembering Zeff’s phone number song. 

Chopper giggles to himself and Sanji looks down at the brown haired kid in surprise, he’s covering his mouth and trying to supress his laughter.

“What?” He asks confused.

“Nothing, it’s just… it’s really funny how alike you and Zoro seem to be.” Chopper beams at him giddily. 

“Come again?” Sanji says flatly. He’s nothing like that stupid bastard.

“Well, Zoro’s sense of direction is godawful, don’t ever let him give you directions. But he always struggled to remember the way to Baby’s house, she never lived with us you see. He kept getting lost so she eventually wrote him a song that were really directions from ours to hers, he never forgot after that.” Chopper smiles in amusement.

Sanji thinks about that for a moment. That’s a little sweet, and a surprisingly amusing and human side to the moss headed idiot.

“Wait- she lives within walking distance? Zoro can’t drive, right so…?” He frowns as the thought occurs.

“Cycling distance, but yeah. She still does. We run into her sometimes in the city, though she’s often off touring. I wish she’d move because I swear Zoro must see her sometimes, it’d explain why sometimes he comes home after being out and he’s miserable and touchy for days.” Chopper remarks with an unhappy pout.

“Huh.” Sanji remarks because he’s got nothing else to say to that. 

“Here, I’ve still got the song if you want to listen to it. I really liked it, it took lots of work though to get it to sound just right. Not that we can use it anymore.” Chopper adds, pulling his phone out and bringing the song up. 

Sanji’s car picks up Chopper’s music right away and Baby’s song blasts through the speakers so loudly that Chopper has to turn it down on his phone itself.

“Sorry, no volume dial.” Sanji apologises, gesturing to the crater where the stereo used to be. The song kicks up, it’s fast bluesy guitar, not the kind of thing he’s used to associating with Zoro at all. Still, it’s played fantastically well so he can easily believe that it is Zoro playing and he supposes that it was Baby who wrote the song, not Zoro, so it stands to reason it might be different. 

Baby’s voice kicks in and it’s deeper and smokier than it was in the video Sanji saw of her as a young teenage girl. Some of it is put on to compliment the style of the music but even so, her voice is different. He resists the urge to close his eyes and listen because he is still driving and he doesn’t want them to plunge off the road and die.

 

“ _Right around the corner, that's where my baby stays_

_That's where my baby stays, that's where my baby stays_

_Right around the corner, that's where my baby stays_

_That's where my baby stays, that's where my baby stays_

_And I can get to my honey's house fifteen different ways_

 

_I can go around the side, I can cut through the back_

_I broke a picket off the fence, or I can squeeze through the crack_

 

_Right around the corner, that's where my baby stays_

_That's where my baby stays, that's where my baby stays_

_Right around the corner, that's where my baby stays_

_That's where my baby stays, that's where my baby stays_

_And I can get to my honey's house fifteen different ways_

 

_Right around the corner, that's where my baby stays_

_That's where my baby stays, that's where my baby stays_

_Right around the corner, that's where my baby stays_

_That's where my baby stays, that's where my baby stays_

_And I can get to my honey's house fifteen different ways_

 

_I consider myself lucky, just as lucky as can be_

_And I wanna thank my baby 'cause he moved so close to me_

 

_Right around the corner, that's where my baby stays_

_That's where my baby stays, that's where my baby stays_

_Right around the corner, that's where my baby stays_

_That's where my baby stays, that's where my baby stays_

_And I can get to my honey's house fifteen different ways”_

 

Sanji raises his eyebrows, the song is catchy as hell and not exactly lyrically complicated either, so it’s already in his head for life. Still, it doesn’t exactly sound like Baby lives that far away at all. Though who knows as the directions aren’t exactly clear to him. It makes sense though, she’d hardly want to give away how to get to her home to just anyone. Still, having sung Zoro’s songs and heard how much he seems to both want her back and regret having ever met her… it must be hard having her live that close still. 

Is he really feeling sympathetic for Zoro? There must be something wrong with his brain right now. 

“I think you’re more alike than you think.” Chopper says after a few moments, his big brown eyes regarding Sanji as he pulls up to the pavement outside campus. 

“I don’t see it.” Sanji says, shaking his head. But… he’s not so sure about that now. Not when with each day he’s seeing more and more glimpses of Zoro’s human side instead of what he suspects is the front that Zoro’s put up to keep him and other people away. He sees flickers through the lyrics to the songs and bits of the mask fall off around Usopp.

“You will.” Chopper smiles at him, as if reading his mind.

“Thanks for the lift Sanji.” The kid adds, hopping out and shutting the door behind him.

“No problem…” Sanji mumbles, watching the kid run off into the campus, surrounded by people much older than him. 

Sanji scrubs his hands through his hair. He needs a drink and a think. 

He gets lunch in a little café outside town and listens to some of the band’s music whilst he drinks his coffee and eats his sandwich. Zoro can be nice, he’s seen it. Maybe he just needs to resolve not to rise to the idiot’s bait. But he knows in his gut that doing that won’t work, he can’t resist the urge to argue back when Zoro snaps at him. 

He’s also promised himself that he won’t use any of his ill-gotten knowledge to wound Zoro, not if he wants to stay in the band anyway, which he very much does. Perhaps he should just do what he did this morning, outright challenge Zoro to explain and vocalise just why he’s being such a dick. If Zoro is so reasonable and nice then either he can give Sanji a damn good reason and perhaps they can work something out, or else he has to admit that he’s just being a dick because he feels like it and then hopefully back off. 

It seemed to work this morning. When he called the other man on his bullshit he got the strangest expression and then just ran off mid argument. Perhaps that’s the way to deal with that. With that decided he starts the reasonably short drive home, a trip he’s managed to memorise enough to do mostly mentally absently. 

He takes the time to sing along to something on his phone that isn’t Zoro’s voice because he’d like to get warmed up for this afternoon and spend a little more time practicing channelling Zoro’s messed up emotions into music. It wouldn’t do to be able to do it only the once after all would it?

When he arrives home everyone seems to be missing, he can’t hear anyone upstairs and the living room is empty too. It’s only when he comes into the kitchen does he find Zoro and no one else. 

Zoro is sat cross legged on the kitchen counter eating honey out of a jar with a spoon on account of him being an awful human being. Sanji wonders if it was for his voice, sometimes he’s ended up with a sore throat after performing something too screamy the night before and honey in drinks has always helped him. Still, he’s never eaten it raw before and certainly not from a jar that everyone uses! 

Zoro doesn’t notice Sanji right away though and the singer can’t help but notice that their guitarist actually looks happy. He’s smiling around the spoon in a way that speaks of more than just enjoyment of what he’s eating. His body looks relaxed and at ease and Sanji almost feels loathe to spoil it. 

“Where is everyone?” Sanji asks suspiciously. It is of course possible that Zoro has killed everyone whilst he was out and stuffed their bodies in the kitchen cupboards and now he’s just waiting for his final victim. Possible, but unlikely. Zoro didn’t really do well with change and he’d have to find new bandmates. 

“I’m someone.” Zoro reasons lazily, opening his eyes. 

Sanji feels his eyebrows quirking disbelievingly. Zoro looks blissed out as fuck, is he on drugs or something?

“You’re not everyone.” Sanji points out.

“True.” Zoro agrees. Wait. He’s _agreeing_ now? Something is definitely wrong.

“Are you okay?” he asks suspiciously.

“Yeah. Everyone’s downstairs practicing the new song.” Zoro answers almost with a purr, flicking the spoon into the sink and sealing the jar of honey. 

“New song?” He asks in sudden interest.

“Yep,” Zoro nods happily, popping the p sound in his word, “first one in four months.” 

“Is that why you look so fucking happy then?” Sanji grins. Zoro looks sharply at him then but quickly relaxes, Sanji’s words might not have been as nice as they could have been but he’s actually happy for Zoro. Seeing him calm and relaxed is a lot better than seeing him bitchy and angry.

Remembering his earlier plan of attack he decides to actually engage the shitty guitarist come songwriter in conversation.

“What does it feel like anyway, writing music I mean?” Sanji asks, genuinely curious as he gets himself a glass of water. 

“Fucking great. It lets stuff out like you wouldn’t believe. Don’t you ever write?” Zoro asks lazily from behind him. 

“I’ve never been able to, and I’ve never really needed to in my line of work so far.” Sanji answers with a shrug. Hey, this counts as an actual conversation.

Zoro doesn’t say anything to that but makes a sound in his throat to acknowledge that he heard, he turns back after getting his drink to see Zoro watching him with a relaxed kind of interest that makes Sanji’s skin prickle.

“Oh, here. Lyrics.” Zoro says, pulling a sheet of paper out of his back pocket and handing it to Sanji.

“Thanks.” The singer nods, unfolding it. It’s lyrics with the music down as well, just what Sanji needs. There are notes on the paper on how to sing it, where Zoro wants the emphasis and so on.

“I wrote down how I’d sing it but since that’s apparently you job now feel free to tweak it or whatever. Or don’t. I don’t care.” Zoro adds a little irritably, returning to his usual self a little more as Sanji reads through the lyrics themselves to Zoro’s new song. 

That… that bastard.

The song is all about their fight and how they can’t stand each other! He even worked the actual words of their argument into it! 

“You’re an asshole!” He snaps angrily, prompting Zoro to fall into an amused fit of laugher. Sanji scowls and reads the music and lyrics together, even with Zoro’s dick move it’s actually… actually a pretty catchy song. 

He grumbles to himself and reads it over again, humming Zoro’s part under his breath to give him a cue as to what kind of feeling to put into the song. He’s never had to do this before, to be part of the creation process and sing something for himself rather than simply copying or putting his own spin on something. 

Sanji looks up to see Zoro watching him, not happy like before but not scowling either. Just a studious amount of attention that makes Sanji’s feel strange. This is a challenge. Zoro is testing to him to see if he can manage this, to sing for himself rather than just do what someone else before him has done. Like hell if he’s going to let Zoro win here. 

“What are you waiting for then idiot, are we gonna go and give this thing a run through or are we just gonna sit here with you eyeballing me all day?” He challenges back, meeting Zoro’s gaze.

The guitarist flashes Sanji’s challenge back at him with a predatory grin that fires up every competitive instinct in Sanji’s entire body. He wants to show Zoro just how good he is, to make the other man have to break and admit that he was wrong about Sanji’s talent. He wants to be better than he’s ever been and shove that victory in Zoro’s damn face. 

He shudders as Zoro leads the way down to the studio. He and Zoro fight constantly and no one in his entire existence infuriates him more than Zoro does, and he grew up with Zeff so that’s saying something! As they get closer to the studio Sanji tries to hold onto that feeling, his indecision about whether he wants Zoro to hurl himself off a cliff and leave him alone forever or to just stop being such an ass all the time. Either way how things are now is almost unbearable. 

“Are you-” Nami starts to ask as they walk into the studio together in a tense standoffish silence. Neither of them answer her though and instead both walk to the microphone. The both take their places on either side of it as Zoro picks up one of his electric guitars and slings it over his shoulder without breaking the tense eye contact between the two of them.

Sanji stares Zoro down, he’s going to show him. Zoro stares right back, the challenge so evident that it couldn’t be clearer if he screamed ‘impress me then!’ right in Sanji’s face. 

The rest of the band seems a little more hesitant though, clearly not knowing what to make of the intense feeling. Luffy is just fine though, thankfully.

“Come on, play through, don’t worry about them.” Luffy orders and counts them in with smacks of his drumsticks. 

Franky’s guitar kicks in first and plays alone for a few seconds before Luffy’s drums and Zoro’s guitar join him. The speed is a little faster than Sanji had imagined and he reconsiders the pitch that he’d previously planned on singing it, voting to start off a little higher.

 

“ _Midwest love affair_

_I bend when I am bored_

_Late night liquor blue_

_Will lead me to the floor.”_

 

The next lyrics however take him to the words that Zoro all but ripped right out of their argument and Sanji can’t help but let the irritation and sarcastic bite creep into his voice and it only takes him a split second to decide not to hold back on it. It was Zoro who had so accused him of feeling nothing wasn’t it? Well, if Zoro wanted to know how this felt then he’s welcome to it. He’ll see if Zoro can take it as well as he can dish it out. 

 

“ _Can we fake it?_

_Can we make believe?_

_I'm so full of love_

_It deeply sickens me._

 

_But all I could do was close my eyes_

_And cross my arms and hope to die_

_Cause you don't fucking listen_

_When I'm around._

_The least you could do is take it back_

_All the vicious remarks and verbal attacks_

_Cause I can't fucking stand it._

_When you’re around.”_

 

The chorus finishes and far from seeming cowed the feral grin is back on Zoro’s face. He doesn’t look unimpressed though. Instead his eyes are shining with energy, challenging and demanding more from Sanji. Sanji cracks his neck in the pause in the song, this next bit is slightly more from Zoro’s perspective. It doesn’t take a mind reader to work out that it’s more to do with how people are reacting to the way that Zoro is treating him. Well too bad, so sad. He’s not gonna weep for the fact that their friends are telling Zoro not to be such an ass, maybe he should wise up and _listen_ for crying out loud.

He doesn’t take the bite out of his words and continues singing with just as much evil energy as before. He lets it build up with every subsequent line without losing his control, layering on the vocal power and exploiting his skills.

 

“ _Midwest aftermath, the rumours start to rise_

_Did I truly do the things that you've described?_

_They must hate me, every single one_

_It just sickens them, what I consider fun._

 

_But all I could do was close my eyes_

_And cross my arms and hope to die_

_Cause you don't fucking listen_

_When I'm around._

_The least you could do is take it back_

_All the vicious remarks and verbal attacks,_

_Cause I can't fucking stand it._

_When you’re around.”_

 

Zoro is still staring right into him and Sanji refuses to give. The song is coming to its end now, with only another repetition or so of the chorus left but there’s this strange feeling rising up that he can’t seem to shake. He and Zoro are still all but at each other’s throats, but it’s creatively rather than destructively. This song feels real in a way that he’s not quite felt with any other song before. He’s not imagining emotion here, he’s using his own, it’s real. It’s… it’s real.

 

“ _But all I could do was close my eyes_

_And cross my arms and hope to die_

_Cause you don't fucking listen_

_When I'm around._

_The least you could do is take it back_

_All the vicious remarks and verbal attacks_

_Cause I can't fucking stand it._

_When you’re around.”_

 

Something seems to flash through Zoro’s eyes and he leans a little closer to the microphone. Sanji doesn’t know how he knows, but he does, Zoro is going to sing. And somehow he also doesn’t think that Zoro is about to try to sing over him. Instead when the punk-haired guy sings it’s at the same time and speed as him and for once they’re listening to each other. Their voices shifting in pitch until they blend together seamlessly into something more powerful than either of their voices alone. Both of them united in the idea that they hate the shit out of the other one. Not exactly the feel-good movie of the year but damn if it doesn’t plaster matching sinister grins on both of their faces.

 

“ _No I can't fucking stand it, when you're around._

_No I can't fucking stand it, when you're around.”_

 

The sounds of the instruments final notes hum through the air and there’s a moment or two of silence before everyone else seems to come to life and explode in enthusiasm. Everyone seems pleased with how they played and if anyone dropped any notes or screwed anything up Sanji didn’t hear it. In fact, he’s not sure he heard much outside of Zoro and his guitar. 

He pulls his eyes off of the other man, breaking the almost electric contact as he looks around the others. Luffy’s enthusiasm is infectious and he can hear Usopp bragging about his perfect work, the whole thing pulls a smile onto Sanji’s face. They all seem happy with how everything went for a first run through and even Sanji has to admit that there was something slightly magical about it. 

He glances at Zoro and grins at him, earning himself a flash of a smirk in response. Geez, that’s almost friendly. Perhaps things between him and Zoro really are turning around, perhaps Usopp was right in his enthusiasm for what a great person the guitarist is. Maybe he’s just a little slow to warm to people, that’s okay. 

“That was great!” Nami cheers, as she enters the room, having left her place in what would usually be Chopper’s seat at the recording studio deck. 

“A new song will be a great thing to play at the gig this Friday at Loguetown!” She adds happily. 

“What?” Zoro says, his voice suddenly flat and dark sliding his guitar off of his shoulder as he stares at Nami in shock.

“A gig, a show. You know, those things that we do where we show up and play music in exchange for money, sound familiar?” Nami answers with a disapproving look at Zoro. 

“I understand that but- with HIM?!” Zoro snarls, jabbing his finger in Sanji’s face.

Nope. Sanji recalls all of his previous goodwill, Zoro can go take a long walk off a short cliff for all Sanji cares. 

“Obviously.” Nami says flatly, her hands on her perfect feminine hips.

“You bitch!” the guitarist snarls. 

“Oi, I _warned you_ about that.” Sanji threatens, grabbing Zoro by the shoulder. He wasn’t just going to stand there and let Zoro talk to Nami like that. 

Zoro spins and shoves him back, but instead of looking just angry Zoro looks slightly unhinged.

“You STAY OUT of this! You just- you stay out of everything! Why don’t you just GO?!” Zoro screams at him advancing towards Sanji and closing the distance with a snarl. Sanji isn’t about to back down.

“How about you just calm down you shitty guitarist?!” Sanji argues back. 

“No! Calm- I can’t even- _tell_ me you haven’t told anyone else about this. You have to cancel!” Zoro exclaims turning back to Nami.

“Like I would, we’ve already sold loads of tickets. People are talking about it online, lots of people are excited to see what our new singer is like.” Nami adds, smiling at Sanji who finds himself blushing at her attention. 

“You… online?! Fuck.” Zoro trails off going pale. Sanji squints at him and thinks that Zoro almost looks like he’s afraid. God he knows that Zoro handles change badly and the idea of playing a real gig with him probably makes it much more real that Baby is gone but he’s not sure it deserves this reaction. 

“What exactly are you so scared of?” Sanji challenges, snapping Zoro’s attention back to him.

“I’m not SCARED! As if I would be!” Zoro yells, catching the front of Sanji’s shirt in his fist. 

“So what’s your problem then?” He pushes back.

“You’re my problem, just leave the band. Just quit.” The guitarist demands, wild eyed and crazy looking.

“Like hell.” Sanji says flatly. Zoro shoves him back, making Sanji stumble slightly.

“This gig is not happening.” Zoro declares and storms off. 

Sanji dusts himself off and scowls. So much for progress. If anything Zoro seems to be crazier and angrier than ever. The door to the studio slams loudly, making everyone wince. 

“Well, that went well.” Robin sighs, folding her hands in her lap. 

 

Zoro has fucked off to who knows where but he’s done the courtesy of kicking a gigantic hole in Sanji’s bedroom door and locking Sanji’s door to their shared bathroom from the inside. Sanji has no idea where Zoro is but he’s going to track him down and kick his teeth in for this. He’s got no right to behave this crazily, not when everyone puts up with his shit so well, and talking like that to Nami when she’s just trying to do her goddamn job! It’s out of line is what it is.

He stalks angrily through the house, no one stops him, but he doesn’t find Zoro. On some kind of instinct he goes out to the garage and finds that Zoro has done him the favour of letting the air out of all four of his tyres. Sanji snarls and only just has time to react when a flash of movement in the corner of his vision alerts him to the fact that Zoro is _still here_. 

The guitarist slams Sanji against his own car, both fists curling into the front of Sanji’s nice shirt. 

“Quit the band!” Zoro snarls, so close to Sanji’s face that he can only just look at Zoro without going cross eyed.

“Like HELL. I don’t care what your issues are Zoro, you need to grow the fuck up and deal with shit and stop being so fucking _mental_!” Sanji shouts right back, wriggling out of Zoro’s grip.

“I’m not mental!” Zoro snaps back, in his face again. 

“Then what’s your fucking problem?!” Sanji demands, kicking at him and shoving him away. Sanji leans his weight off of his car now that he’s got the room. With no air in his tyres he hardly wants to put pressure on the wheels. 

“You’re my problem! Just leave the band!” Zoro yells at him, inexplicably angry. 

Sanji grits his teeth and remembers his earlier resolution. Don’t accuse, don’t lash out, make Zoro actually say what’s up and call him on it if he doesn’t.

“Give me one good reason and I might consider it. Why do you want me to leave?” He questions, sounding a shade calmer than he really is. That seems to startle Zoro into some emotion that’s a little less violent.

“What?” Zoro says in a confused voice. 

“Why?” Sanji repeats.

“Just go. We’re not doing this show, so just… just go.” Zoro answers in something closer to a speaking voice.

Ah, so it definitely is about the show then. Because Zoro had been starting to warm up to him beforehand, there’s no way he was imagining that. 

“What’s so important about the show? Why are you so suddenly desperate to get rid of me?” He questions suspiciously.

“I’m not _suddenly_ anything. Did you miss the part where I’ve hated you since I met you, where I’ve locked you out of your room to make you leave? Or that time I filled your car with spiders?” Zoro argues and just the _mention_ of that makes Sanji’s skin crawl. They were fake most of them but somehow Zoro had managed to throw a few real ones in there too and that had been worse, picking them up and then suddenly finding out that it WASN’T plastic. 

He has no idea how Zoro found out about his bug phobia, perhaps just a lucky guess but he loathes him for it. Zoro gives him a feral smirk with threatening teeth behind it and that reminds Sanji just what’s going on here, Zoro’s trying to distract him which means that there’s something worth diverting him from there.

“Yeah, only you were happy when I got back. Writing songs and playing, don’t tell me you didn’t feel that. Everything worked perfectly, and don’t tell me I don’t have talent because you and I both know that isn’t true and don’t insult us both by saying that.” Sanji points out sternly and that makes Zoro’s jaw click shut as he looks away.

“Look, I can find you another band to play with. Just not this one, just don’t do the show and just… just go. Please.” Zoro adds, closing his eyes. 

“What are you so scared of with this show, with me staying in the band? What’s wrong?” Sanji presses because Zoro’s expression right now has more than just a note of dread in it. Though not after Sanji’s spoken, then it’s all rage.

“Like I’d ever be scared of YOU!” He yells furiously, the expression so overt that it just makes Sanji roll his eyes.

“So what then? What do you think is going to happen here? What are you trying to avoid?” He presses. He suspects that he knows. He suspects that Zoro thinks that it’s going to be like Baby all over again, that the gig will somehow end up with him leaving. Perhaps the two of them gelling so well in practice just then wasn’t a good thing, perhaps it’s too much like how he used to play with Baby. But he can’t just assume that, he needs Zoro to say it. 

“Go fuck yourself.” Zoro snaps instead, darting around Sanji to grab his bike and peddle off into the night. 

Sanji sighs. Zoro is messed up. But it’s a done deal, he’s not going anywhere and the gig is clearly going to happen if they’ve already started selling tickets. He highly doubts that Zoro will actually abandon the band and leave them without a guitarist, though even if he does they’ve got enough guitarist to about pull through. 

He hunts down Franky’s tyre pump and starts to refill his tyres, hoping that Zoro’s not done any real damage to his wheels or his suspension. Zoro’s just going to have to dig deep to find his balls and _deal_ with this situation.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The songs for this chapter are “Right around the corner” by the Detroit Cobras and “When you’re around” by Motion City Soundtrack.


	5. Chapter 5

Luckily for Zoro, Sanji’s car proves to be okay despite the entirely uncalled for tyre deflation. The idiot didn’t come home all night despite Nami and Usopp both texting him and asking if he’s okay, the others all seemed resigned to Zoro’s vanishing act. Apparently Zoro frequently does this sort of thing.

Sanji is cooking breakfast the next morning, gently singing the song that Zoro wrote the day before. Despite everything he does actually like the song, it’s amusing. The others all filter down in time, Robin first as she’s an early riser, followed by Usopp who seems to be having trouble sleeping lately. Sanji suspects that he’s anxious about the wedding, which is sweet. Usopp is gone almost as soon as he came though, merely grabbing some pastries and leaving again, apparently he has wedding business to attend to.

One by one everyone else filters downstairs as Sanji lays out more breakfast, this time a more continental style breakfast with toast, fresh yoghurt with fresh fruit, croissants and other pastries.

“Oh Zoro, again?” Franky sighs despairingly, making Sanji’s ears prick up as he searches the fridge for the cold cuts of meat that he’s sure he bought the other day when Nami sent him shopping.

“It’s not my fault.” Zoro mumbles from somewhere near the table.

“You gotta stop getting in bar fights every time something upsets you, bro. It’s not healthy.” Franky says with an almost motherly clucking tone to his voice.

“I’m fine, just- ow!” Zoro yelps from behind Franky.

Sanji frowns, he suspects that Luffy has eaten the cold cuts at some point when he wasn’t supervising the fridge so he returns to the table empty handed. To be entirely honest he really wants to see what’s happened to Zoro.

Sanji leans around Franky to get a good look at Zoro, his eyes nearly fall out of his head in shock when he sees him. The guitarist as a split and swollen lower lip and a black eye, he must have gotten some ice on it pretty quick as it’s not swollen too badly, though it’s all red and purple. Sanji wonders what lucky guy in a bar got to punch Zoro that hard to leave a shiner that strong.

“Zoro! What about the wedding photos?! What about the show?!” Nami screeches, leaning over the table yanking Zoro’s chin towards her.

“Don’t get your panties in a knot. It’ll be gone by the wedding, black eyes take ten days to heal tops. Anyway, I heal quick, you know that.” Zoro mutters, pulling away from her and wrapping his arms around himself. He looks… small somehow. Which is stupid because Zoro’s obviously not any smaller. But… it almost looks like some part of Zoro is dimmer than before, like some of his fire has been snuffed out.

“The gig is this Friday, that’s three days time Zoro. What about then, huh? You don’t think these things through, you’re so goddamn selfish sometimes!” Nami snaps at him. Sanji… Sanji wants to think that she’s justified for berating the guitarist but Zoro just looks so different than usual that he can’t quite bring himself to feel it.

“I can still play with a bruised face Nami.” Zoro sighs.

“So you have agreed to do the show, good.” The redhead nods officially.

Zoro doesn’t argue back, he just shrugs weakly, after all there’s nothing he can do about it. Zoro ducks out under Franky’s arm and disappears out of the room. Sanji frowns and chases after him, ignoring Franky’s calls after him to not fight Zoro.

He spots the guitarist on the stairs, clearly trying to head up to their floor. Zoro pauses and regards him flatly, looking entirely uninterested in whatever it is that Sanji has to say. Not that Sanji has any idea what he came out here to say in the first place. Some strange impulse drew him out here but helpfully has abandoned him now that he’s actually here. In lieu of any actual plan he just blurts out the first thing to come to mind.

“Are you okay?” He calls.

“What the hell do you care?” Zoro snorts and continues walking.

“I care. And I don’t mean your face, I mean you. You seem kinda… off.” He answers. And it’s true, Zoro seems even more watered down than he did before talking to Nami.

“Why do you care? I’m a jerk to you, I’m trying to make you leave.” The guitarist frowns at him, though the expression lacks malice.

“Yeah, you are. But I’m not going anywhere, and since I’m not a complete jerkbag I’m a little weirded out by this. You look like someone’s ripped your soul out or something.” Sanji replies, starting up the stairs after Zoro. The guitarist has frozen however and stays stock still on the step that he’s on.

Zoro turns to look at him after a few seconds, leaving Sanji a few steps below, looking up at him. Zoro’s expression is troubled but still worn.

“What do you need me to say to make you go away?” Zoro asks wearily, his eyes shut.

“Tell me that you’re alright.” The singer answers quietly. He doesn’t like this strange injured version of Zoro. Not that he likes the regular Zoro all that much either, the Zoro he likes is the one lost in his own music, the one that challenges him and makes him better. Sadly he doesn’t get to see that one all that often.

“Then you’ll leave the band?” Zoro blinks in surprise, some of the numbness that Zoro’s showing seems to fall away then.

“No, asshole. Tell me that you’re alright and I’ll let you… go wherever it was you were going before I got here. To your room or wherever.” Sanji snorts, as if Zoro getting rid of him would be that easy.

“I was going to my room to meditate, it makes me feel better.” The guitarist grumbles, apparently unhappy at being disabused of the idea that saying he’s okay would make Sanji quit the band.  

“Well, do you want breakfast? Seeing as you just came down and disappeared without grabbing any.” He suggests. God, this conversation is so weird. It’s not like he and Zoro are friends or anything but both of them seem to have temporarily forgotten that, they’re having a perfectly non-hostile conversation. Sanji is surer and surer that he doesn’t like this at all. Something is  _wrong_  here.

“No.” The guitarist says, shaking his head and continuing up the stairs.

Sanji’s stupid body propels him forward again and makes him reach out to grab the back of Zoro’s shirt.

“Tell me that you’re alright.” He says.

“Yeah, everything is alright.” Zoro answers looking over his shoulder and heading up.

“Those aren’t the same!” Sanji calls after him again, but this time Zoro doesn’t stop.

Sanji returns to the kitchen thoughtfully and notices the rest of his bandmates looking at him when he returns, well, except Luffy who is busy inhaling food but that’s nothing new.

“Oh-ho, I think our singer and guitarist are getting on a little better. I didn’t hear any shouting at all there!” Brook laughs melodically.

“Yeah, I’m a little worried about Zoro. He seems all weird.” Sanji frowns, taking a seat at the table and helping himself to food.

“Zoro is like that sometimes, I find it’s best just to leave him to it.” Robin advises him sagely over the top of her coffee cup.

“I’m sure you’re right my lovely Robin!” Sanji agrees with a happy chirp but deep down he’s struggling to shake the feeling that something is wrong.

He eats his food slowly, defending it from Luffy as necessary and listens to Nami and Robin discussing their beautiful bridesmaid’s dresses. Even the ever cool Robin seems excited for Usopp’s big day. He hopes that it’ll be really nice for him, he’s looking forward to seeing all the pictures.

He clears up the bomb site that is breakfast and becomes thankful that Nami is actually paying him for this because it’s certainly far more work than he’d anticipated. Still, he likes that he gets to spend time with his new friends, to see them interact and knowing that he’s set them up nutritionally for the day. It’s kinda dorky but that’s how he feels about it.

He heads upstairs to the top floor, telling himself that he’s going to his own room. He drops all pretence of that though when he spots that Zoro’s door is open. He peeks around the edge to see Zoro sitting in the middle of his bed, his white acoustic guitar in his lap. His eyes are shut and his breathing is slow, he really does seem to be mediating.

Sanji’s eyes go to the acoustic. He’s seen it in videos before of course, but never actually heard Zoro play it in person. It was his dead sister’s guitar and it seems incredibly special to him. He hesitates at the door and quietly steps back into his own room, leaving his door open too. He doesn’t want to disturb the other man but he wants to see what he does as well.

Come lunchtime Zoro has done nothing at all, he’s not moved a goddamn muscle, he’s just sitting there with his eyes shut “meditating” or whatever. Sanji isn’t convinced that he’s not just sleeping. Sanji huffs and gives up, clearly whatever interesting thing is going on is entirely inside Zoro’s insufferably thick skull.

Sanji serves up lunch not long after and the rest of the band except for Usopp sit around eating and talking. Zoro is sprawled in his ludicrously large beanbag on the floor as the band sits in the extensive living room of their mansion planning how the gig is going to go. Sanji should really be trying to focus on what the others are talking about, they’re discussing song choices, lighting, audio setups and so on. But he can’t quite focus, his attention is all on Zoro’s lifeless sprawl.

The other man has spent all morning meditating but he still looks dead, there’s no energy in his body at all and if it wasn’t for the slow breathing that Sanji can see he’d almost be concerned that Zoro was actually a corpse. Though the other man is clearly on his way to becoming one, he didn’t eat a breakfast and he’s not eating now, frankly it’s pissing Sanji off.

He knows that Zoro is pissed about the gig, or he was at least, right now he’s not even putting up a fight to it being organised right in front of him. And he knows that Zoro apparently lost a fight. But this doesn’t seem like bruised ego or grudging acceptance, something else is going on here and it’s really wrong.

“You know I’m working Friday night.” Zoro finally speaks, tilting his head to look at Nami, affording Sanji a view of his painful looking black eye.

“Someone’s going to have to pick you up, driving quickly you can make it across the city in time.” Nami agrees, flicking her gorgeous orange hair.

“Sanji should pick him up.” Luffy states from his spot on the top of the back of Nami’s armchair. It’s the highest point in the room and he seems to like it up there.

“Wait, what? But if they get held up then we have no singer at all. Franky could fill in for Zoro if need be, Robin should be the one to-” Nami starts, tilting her head back to look at Luffy with a frown.

“No. Sanji picks him up.” Luffy declares, and it’s final.

“I know where Zoro works, and I know where Loguetown is, I can make the drive.” Sanji confirms.

“I knew you could do it.” Luffy grins happily.

Zoro shrugs and drops his head back onto the beanbag again. Sanji scowls, really, Zoro’s not going to fight that at all? He stares at the guitarist and watches his slow breathing. He’s so focused that he doesn’t even hear Usopp come in the door until the others greet him. Zoro’s converse shod feet tense, the white toe caps jerking up anxiously as the guitarist digs his heels into the floor.  Sanji’s curled eyebrow quirks in interest.

Usopp is carrying long purple dresses in his hands in clear protective wraps, he hands one carefully to Robin and the other to Nami, earning exclamations of joy from both. Nami holds hers up to her body and twirls whilst Robin lifts up the plastic on hers to feel the silky purple fabric with a smile.

“We  _have_  to try these on!” Nami squeals, grabbing Robin and pulling the smiling woman from the room with her. Usopp heaves a relieved and happy sigh.

“Well, I really hope that they fit or else I-OH MY GOD ZORO YOUR FACE!” Usopp shrieks as he catches sight of Zoro.

The keyboardist hurls himself at Zoro, nearly throwing them both off of the beanbag and Sanji watches in amusement as someone else finally reacts appropriately and Zoro tries to squirm away from under him.

“Your eye! What happened? Does it hurt?” Usopp questions in a panic.

“OUCH! It does if you POKE IT!” Zoro snaps, falling off onto the floor inadvertently taking Usopp with him in a tangle of limbs.

“And your lip, Zoro! What happened?” Usopp gasps, pawing at Zoro.

“Get offa me!” Zoro grunts, shoving at Usopp from the floor.

“Not until you tell me what happened!” The keyboardist huffs in a show of bravery that Sanji hasn’t seen before in the other man.

“I got punched in the face, obviously.” The guitarist grumbles, his head dropping back to the floor in surrender. Usopp gingerly touches around Zoro’s bruised up eye and Sanji feels a flash of envy for the way Zoro tolerates that from Usopp when the guitarist seems so averse to even being within the same room as Sanji.

“But why?” Usopp questions with a frown, as if he can’t possibly fathom why anyone would ever want to punch Zoro in the face.

“Doesn’t matter, it was my fault.” He sighs unhappily.

“Zoro, how is it your fault if someone punched you?” the musician sighs. This seems to be the wrong thing to say because Zoro shifts under Usopp’s weight.

“Can we not do this?” Zoro mutters sitting up and making the keyboardist slide into his lap.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Zoro adds, standing up and stalking off out of the room tensely.

“When did he come back like that?” Usopp asks, looking around at the others.

“Eh, this morning. You know what he’s like with bar fights, we really shouldn’t let him go out drinking unsupervised, he’s never a violent drinker with us. He doesn’t pick fights when we’re about.” Franky sighs in a bored tone, kicking his bare feet up onto the sofa arm.

“I don’t understand, it’s been months since this happened.” Usopp says pitifully from the floor, a crease of confusion forming between his eyebrows.

“With Sanji joining he just needed to let off some steam. Don’t worry about it Usopp.” Luffy says, leaping down off of Nami’s vacated chair and slapping Usopp on the shoulder reassuringly. Sanji frowns, he doesn’t like the idea that Zoro went out and got into a fight and lost because of him.

Usopp looks up at Sanji and watches him for a second before shaking his head.

“No, but I think another singer might be behind this.” Usopp growls, sounding fiercely protective.

“Baby? But isn’t she on tour right now?” Brook asks in surprise, piquing Sanji’s attention.

“Yeah, but her tour’s swung back through town. It’s got a break in the middle and she’s been back for a few days. I bet you anything Zoro knows that or he’s run into her. Goddamnit, whenever she’s around Zoro starts acting reckless and gets himself hurt.” Usopp snaps angrily, running his fingers through his thick curly hair as he stands up.

“I don’t think there’s anything you can do about it Usopp-bro, Zoro’s just gotta deal.” Franky says sagely.

Usopp makes a frustrated noise in his throat that suggests that he’s not happy with that idea at all. Sanji stands up and shrugs, it’s none of his business really. He picks up the plates of food that are left and balancing them carefully takes them back to the kitchen.

He puts all of the leftovers onto a plate and can’t help but notice that there’s just enough for one more person to eat. Just enough for the one person who didn’t eat a thing at lunch, well, besides Usopp that is. He should go and offer it to the keyboardist but his feet pull him in the direction of the hallway instead, he tilts his head and listens. He hears a metallic clang come from the direction of the garage and follows it with the plate of food in hand.

Zoro is sprawled in the middle of the garage, picking up the array of spanners and wrenches he’s evidently just knocked down. His hands are quick and energetic as he scoops them up, muttering agitated under his breath. Zoro’s eyes flick up to see him and instantly scowl.

“Go away.” Zoro says with more energy than he’s managed all day.

“Glad to hear you sound a little more normal. Promise to eat this and I’ll happily leave you to your swearing and… whatever the fuck it is that you’re doing out here.” Sanji shrugs, offering the plate.

Zoro straightens up, spinning a wrench in one hand and drumming on his thigh with a spanner with the other. In stark contrast to the energy-sapped Zoro that was sprawled practically dead all over the living room floor earlier, this Zoro seems to be practically vibrating with energy. It doesn’t feel like the good kind though, it looks like nervous anxious energy.

If Sanji was going to guess, and he was, he’d say that being questioned on exactly how he got his face punched in made him anxious. That’s interesting but not especially enlightening, is there more to it than Sanji knows about or does the moss head just not like discussing how he got his ass handed to him in a fight? Man, Sanji would have given anything to have been there when whoever decked Zoro did that. Though he supposes he’s already watched that video of Baby slapping Zoro into next week, though he can’t watch that again really, not now that he knows the whole story about what happened.

“I’m not hungry.” Zoro says dismissively, and turns back to his bike, crouching down and replacing the tools in a case on the floor.

“Bullshit, you didn’t have breakfast either this morning. You’ve eaten nothing all day.” Sanji frowns, leaning on the bonnet of his car and staring and Zoro’s back. Zoro is leaning in and unscrewing the cap to his bike wheel.

“I wasn’t hungry then and I’m not hungry now, so go away.” The guitarist snipes with a flick of a glare over his shoulder.

“You’re hardly going to heal that shiner on your face if you don’t eat something to keep your energy up, are you?” Sanji points out, changing his tactics.

“Oh fuck!” Zoro hisses.

Sanji walks his way around to Zoro and sees that the other man has chewed on his lip enough to re-open the cut on it. Blood is flowing from his lip and down to his chin.

“Here.” Sanji offers, crouching down and offering him the napkin from under the plate that he was carrying.

Zoro shoots him a distrustful look but takes it anyway, pressing it to the bleeding cut.

“Are you alright?” Sanji asks once more.

“Haven’t we done this already today?” Zoro sighs wearily.

“So give me a reason to end this discussion, convince me that you’re okay. Start by eating for one, and not looking like you’re swinging from coma patient to energiser bunny in terms of energy levels. Those aren’t the marks of someone who’s okay.” He reasons. Zoro’s eyes slide guiltily to the side and he pretends to be interested in his bike again as he presses the napkin to his bleeding lip.

“Why do you care anyway? What kind of sick fuck keeps going back to someone who’s clearly trying to hurt them?” Zoro says in a flat voice, his eyes dark and angry.

“Someone who knows that they don’t mean it.” Sanji shrugs. Zoro looks at him wide eyed with shock, not saying anything. Zoro grimaces as he pulls the bloodied tissue away and stares down at the red spread on it, he tongues the reopened cut on his lip, it seems to have stopped bleeding now.

“And suppose you’re wrong?” Zoro says softly, his eyes still on his own blood.

“I’m not. You’re acting like an asshole and a jerk but you’re not either really I don’t think. Well, you might be kind of a jerk.” He reasons.

Zoro watches him with dark eyes and Sanji swears that he sees a glimmer of hopelessness in there, something inside him reaching out. But Zoro looks away and it’s gone.

“We’ve got a show to do soon and we can’t do it without you, so deal with whatever this is and eat.” Sanji demands, pushing the plate into Zoro’s hands.

Sanji stands up, having accomplished his mission to deliver food to Zoro.

“I’m not alright.” Zoro says, so quietly that Sanji almost doesn’t hear it. He sits back down, Zoro is studiously avoiding his gaze.

“Is this because of Baby being back in town? Usopp said she was.” Sanji asks softly. Zoro nods once, sharply.

“I’ve never been in this kind of situation but… you don’t need her. You’re writing again, you’ve got your band and you’d better believe I’m gonna drag your ass to shows so people can hear your music. I may not like you an awful lot, on account of your aforementioned jerkiness, but I’d be dumb to ignore the fact that you’ve got talent. Things might be complicated where she’s concerned but… you’ll be alright.” Sanji says as quickly as possible because this is all straying way too far into feelings territory.

He stands up awkwardly and scratches the back of his neck. Zoro hasn’t said a word and that’s just weird.

“Someday you’ll be fine.” He offers, touching Zoro’s shoulder awkwardly as he walks out of the garage, leaving the moss-head to sit on the ground staring into the distance. As he leaves Sanji hears a distant metallic crash and scrambling but he doesn’t go back, the manic guitarist can deal with his own shit.

When Sanji comes back inside the house any thoughts that he had about Zoro are swiftly chased out of his mind when he catches sight of Nami and Robin, both have changed into the dresses that Usopp brought home and… well… lovely doesn’t even do them justice. The cut of each tress is different, Robin’s is a backless affair that drapes loosely from her neck and only makes its way around to her back at a scandalously low point. The whole thing seems to float silkily like a dream. Nami’s on the other hand is tight across her top and back, a cinched in corset type affair which emphasises her considerable bust, this one flares out playfully at her waist.

Both of them look more beautiful than Sanji could ever imagine.

He explodes into gushing praise that actually manages to make both ladies blush. In fairness the others all seem very impressed with the dresses too.

Eventually Nami giggles and pulls Robin upstairs, saying that they shouldn’t wear the dresses for too long as they’ve still got the wedding to deal with. Sanji flutters bonelessly into the sofa with a wistful sigh, he’s so fortunate to be surrounded by such gorgeous beauties.

“Hey Franky, what’s wrong with Sanji?” Luffy pipes up loudly.

“You want a list?” Franky chuckles, poking Sanji teasingly in the stomach.

Zoro proceeds to be less than useful all day, he gets under Franky’s feet in the garage by fiddling with his bike and then under Sanji’s feet by suddenly deciding to clean the oven. It doesn’t help that Zoro actually manages to set the oven cleaner on fire leading to Sanji having to locate and use the fire extinguisher he boots Zoro out of the kitchen to go be highly strung elsewhere.

Every time he sees Zoro he seems to be humming with nervous energy, even if he’s sitting down his feet are moving around all antsy. Much to Sanji’s confusion this seems to be accepted as relatively normal amongst the rest of the band, even Usopp who was so concerned about Zoro’s injuries seems to be entirely unfazed by Zoro’s apparent hyperactive-mania.

Sanji can’t help it, Zoro’s behaviour is so odd and his admission of being not okay is so jarring that he can’t help but think about the guitarist. Should he find the other man again and try to calm him down or make him feel better? Zoro didn’t seem especially keen on that idea earlier, but then he had admitted that he wasn’t okay. Was that as much of an invitation as he was going to get? Should he say something to Usopp? The keyboard player certainly knows him better than Sanji does and is probably better equipped to handle Zoro’s apparently wildly swinging moods. But it wasn’t Usopp that Zoro confessed to, was it? It was him.

Sanji sighs to himself. Zoro is clearly more messed up than he thought, but he can hardly talk as he’s the one relenting and hunting the other man down. A thorough scouring of the house reveals Zoro to be in the studio downstairs.

He peers around the door and sees Zoro sprawled across another bean bag, he seems to be fond of them somehow. Zoro’s foot is still jigging nervously, his fingers running twitchily along the guitar frets. Zoro suddenly sings, absently and not especially tunefully, as if he’s trying the lyrics on for size.

“ _Tell me that you're alright,_

_Yeah everything is alright._

_Oh please tell me that you're alright,_

_Yeah everything is alright.”_

Sanji smiles despite himself, Zoro seems to be using his words again.

“You’re writing again?” He asks, coming around the door. Zoro jolts up and looks at him, accidentally scratching down the guitar strings with a fingernail and making a sound through the amplifier that makes them both wince.

Zoro shrugs soundlessly and falls back into his bean bag again. Sanji doesn’t know if he should stay or go, Zoro pulls a tune from his guitar and hums along under his breath, putting melody to his earlier words.

“I wanted to see if you were okay, you still seem really… highly strung I guess.” Sanji offers from his place by the door.

“Anxious? Stressed? Nervous?” Zoro suggests, but Sanji isn’t quite sure if the guitarist is talking to him as the other man isn’t even looking in his direction and is instead staring right up at the ceiling. He sings and plays again, softly and slightly sadly, the tune still the same but with the notes stretched out it has a melancholy feel to it.

“ _I'm sick of the things I do when I'm nervous_

_Like cleaning the oven or checking my tires_

_Or counting the number of tiles in the ceiling,_

_Head for the hills, the kitchen's on fire”_

“Oi, look at me.” He orders, stepping closer and kicking Zoro’s foot. This actually does get Zoro’s full attention.

“What?” Zoro scowls at him and Sanji is struck again by the dichotomy between the vulnerability he hears in Zoro’s music and the prickly reality of the man in person. Sanji is starting to suspect that the Zoro in the music is the real one and that this one is just a way of keeping people out, a way of convincing everyone else that he’s fine when he’s not. And from his lyrics Sanji doesn’t think that Zoro wants to stay like that anymore.

“This self-medication with music and meditation thing might work for you and… and if you’re okay with that then fine or whatever. But if you need to talk to someone or just admit that you’re not okay and you need help then you should. Talk to any of us, even me.” Sanji offers, crouching down to where Zoro sits.

“Why aren’t you just leaving me alone? Do I actually need to set fire to your room or something for you to leave?” Zoro asks defensively.

“Told you, not going anywhere, you can just deal with it. You can keep expecting me to go but you’re gonna be disappointed. If you’re doing this to make me leave so I can’t abandon you you’re being pretty transparent and messed up about it.” Sanji says flatly.

“AS IF! How screwed up do you think I am?!” Zoro squawks indignantly, scrambling to sit up and stare at Sanji wide eyed.

“Good.” Sanji grins, enjoying Zoro’s fervent denial.

“Well, like I said. If this stops working for you, you know where I am. Being honest with other people isn’t that hard you know.” He shrugs, standing up. Zoro watches him silently and Sanji figures that the other man has nothing else to say, at least not right now. He straightens up and heads for the door.

“Sanji.” Zoro says, so softly that Sanji isn’t sure that he heard it and has to stick his head back in the room to check.

“I guess… you’re not… all bad. Maybe.” The guitarist grudgingly admits, his scowl still present on his face.

“Wow, think I better go lie down after getting told something like that. Careful with those compliments there Zoro, you might give me a heart attack.” He grins back.

“Asshole.” Zoro growls.

“Moss-fucker.” Sanji shoots back.

“Swirly-faced bastard.” Zoro retorts.

“Dick-bag.” Sanji smirks, quite enjoying this argument.

“Heheh, you’re alright.” Zoro grins brightly, falling back onto his beanbag and strumming idly.

“Show up to dinner, idiot, I don’t want to have to drag you to the table.” Sanji warns and leaves with a smile on his face.

Sanji returns to the kitchen and gets started on dinner, he’s doing a slow cooked bolognaise, leaving the mince to cook in the oven within the sauce so that it’s oh so tender. He fries onions, makes his own sauce with peppers and tomatoes and makes garlic bread. He assembles some bruschetta and leaves it to the side ready to pop in the oven for a few moments right before serving, he makes a gorgeous Italian salad with olives sundried tomatoes on top and through all of the preparation he’s humming to himself. It’s only after a half an hour of repeating the same two refrains over and over again that he realises he’s humming the incomplete song that he’d just heard Zoro writing.

When the band gathers for dinner Zoro seems a little less dead but instead entirely distracted, he hardly pays attention to any of the barbs that Sanji throws his way and all but completely ignores the others trying to talk to him. Sanji notices that Zoro is pretty much only eating with one hand, his other forming what look like chord patterns against the table, Zoro is still writing music in his head.

As soon as Zoro’s fork hits his finished plate he yells out a sincere sounding thank you for the food and dashes back off downstairs.

“I suppose we’re practicing the set then? Though Zoro seems like he’s writing.” Robin notes thoughtfully, dabbing her mouth daintily with a napkin.

“Two songs in the same week? When was the last time that happened?” Brook remarks in surprise.

“A few years at least, it seems he’s feeling inspired at the moment.” Robin smiles, her gaze landing on Sanji in a way that makes the hairs on the back of Sanji’s neck stand on end nervously.

“We’d better go practice.” Sanji squeaks nervously and makes his escape from the room. He’s not sure why that made him uncomfortable but… somehow he doesn’t want to stick around for that conversation.

He sneaks his way back into the studio with a silent sigh and smiles at the vision of Zoro standing there with his eyes shut and a studious frown on his face as he plays through a catchier and more complex version of the melody that Sanji had heard him play earlier. He takes the opportunity to settle into Zoro’s bean bag, knowing full well that it’ll irk the other man when he sees Sanji in his place.

Zoro pauses mid chord, frowns and goes back a few bars and plays again, this time with a slightly different note. Sanji can’t say for sure what he changed but this version sounds a little better. Zoro nods to himself and kneels down to make a note on some paper.

“I think… I think it’s done.” Zoro remarks, looking up at Sanji and handing him the lyrics. This time there’s a lot less musical direction and Sanji wonders if Zoro is starting to trust his judgement a little more with music.

Franky and Usopp come in and Zoro hands them their sheets of music which the two musicians regard with interest.

“Should we give this a play through? It looks good Zoro!” Usopp smiles brightly.

“No! We’re practicing the set list, we don’t have time to work out new songs!” Nami orders them. Her word is law of course so the other bastards grumble unhappily and move to their instruments. Sanji does no such thing and obediently takes his place at the microphone even if he is secretly a little disappointed at missing the opportunity to hear Zoro’s new song fully played through.

Practice starts and the set begins with the new song “When You’re Around” then it slows down a little to “Hum Along” and “Mutiny Below”, the set progresses through a range of other songs before finishing on the first song Sanji ever sung for them, “Lake Pontchartrain”.

It feels good to sing for that long and they move flawlessly from song to song, all wonderfully in synch. So much so that when they finish Sanji is more than a little tired. Even so it wasn’t a perfect practice, whilst there is nothing at all wrong with Zoro’s playing the guitarist seems distracted still and Sanji would bet all the money in his wallet right now that Zoro’s mind is elsewhere, probably on that new song of his.

“That was good, again!” Nami orders them through the speakers, from the place by Chopper’s side through the glass.

Sanji drinks a solid amount of water to soothe his tired throat and the band launches through the whole set again. By the time they’re done all of them are looking pretty tired, they’ve been playing almost non-stop for hours, so it’s to be expected.

“Well… I’m gonna go call Kaya and then maybe go to bed.” Usopp mumbles, stepping away from his keyboard as he rolls his shoulder and cracks his knuckles.

“Might go tinker with my car and then do the same.” Franky agrees with a nod.

“You’re gonna call Kaya too?” Luffy chirps, jumping over the drum kit evidently entirely wide awake. Sanji squints at him and swallows thickly, he’s not sure that Luffy is human.

He downs some water and seriously considers raiding that honey supply of Zoro’s that he saw the other man eating from. His throat feels sore and tired from singing so hard for so long and the last thing that he wants to do it wear out his voice before the actual gig.

Zoro doesn’t say what he’s going to do but from the way he drops down into his bean bag again and starts pouring over the written music for his new song Sanji suspects that he’s going to stay there and keep writing. If nothing else Sanji has to admire the work ethic Zoro has when he comes to his music.

The band disperses and Sanji takes the opportunity to sneak some of Zoro’s honey, it feels glorious going down his throat raw, so soothing and sweet. He mixes some with a mug of boiled water and heads upstairs to read before going to sleep.

He’s been reading An Abundance of Katherines by John Green and it’s a good book, still, he’s finding it a little hard to settle into it. He skips back a few pages just to refresh himself as to where he was but even then he finds that he has trouble concentrating.

He shuffles around on his bed in case it’s just that he’s uncomfortable, he tries reading again but still his mind is elsewhere. He shifts onto his front and feels something crackle in his pocket. Curiously he puts his book down and pulls out the contents of his pocket, he unfolds the piece of paper and places his finished drink on the floor.

Ah, it’s the lyrics to Zoro’s new song. He scans through them but he’s having a hard time placing how it should be sung without quite knowing the music. He’s got an idea of the notes from what he’s heard Zoro play but he’s no idea about the speed or the tone.

The lyrics themselves are pulled from his conversation with Zoro and from Zoro’s own mind, it seems to be almost conversational in that it’s written sort of from his perspective and from Zoro’s. Yet it’s all down as being sung by him, though Zoro’s joining in for the chorus. He doesn’t know whether he should sing this soft and melancholy or whether he should be a little more upbeat.

He fidgets uncomfortably on his bed for a few moments. Zoro’s not back in his room yet so maybe he’s still downstairs in the studio. Maybe… maybe the two of them can run through the song. Not to practice it or anything but just so that he has a tune to go with the words in his head, just so that he can put them to rest is all.

He hops off of his bed and, lyrics in hand, hurries down all of the stairs in the mansion and makes his way inside the studio. He has to admit that he’s kind of pleased to find that he’s not the only one to break to temptation and return. Luffy is already here, along with Usopp.

He holds up the lyrics by way of explanation and Zoro grins at him. Sanji sidles over to his microphone and watches Zoro surreptitiously through his fringe, that black eye still makes him wince to look at. He wonders just what it was that Zoro did to get in a fight with someone to make them do that to him.

“Hey, I guess I’m late to the party.” Franky laughs as he comes into the room.

“I couldn’t resist.” He adds, holding up his own sheet of bass music.

With a little direction from Luffy they start to play, Sanji tries to pick the tune up as they go but the first time through sounds really awkward and off-key. The second time through is a little better as people settle into their parts and by trial number three Sanji is singing the words entirely as he’s supposed to.

However… the feeling of rightness that he felt with the last song of Zoro’s isn’t there, the magic isn’t happening for some reason and the scowl on Zoro’s face informs Sanji that he’s not the only one feeling that.

“Gimme, it’s not right.” Zoro grumbles, holding his hand out for everyone to give their music sheets back and one by one they do. Not that Sanji needs his now, he’s memorised it.

“The feeling is wrong, it’s too calm or something. Or the words aren’t done right or… something!” Zoro scowls, dropping to the floor and spreading the sheets out, staring down at them as if he keep eye contact with them long enough they’ll give in and work.

“Try not to stay up all night. You need to sleep, remember?” Usopp sighs leaning down and wrapping his arms around Zoro’s neck in a half hug.

“Quit mothering me.” Zoro whines, trying to squirm out of Usopp’s grip.

“Nope, someone needs to until you start taking care of yourself.” Usopp teases.

“FINE! I’ll sleep tonight at some point.” The guitarist yelps as Usopp needles him in the side with his long pianist fingers.

“You better.” Usopp laughs, messing up Zoro’s already unruly hair.

Sanji smiles at Zoro’s obvious happiness and slides out of the room to leave the two of them to it, Zoro always seems a little more balanced when Usopp is around. Usopp seems to genuinely care for his best friend, he was the only one who seemed to react appropriately when Zoro showed up with a black eye. From what Usopp has told him it sounds like they look after each other a lot. They’re family really, it’s sweet.

With no particular thought in mind, especially not the lyrics of Zoro’s song or how Sanji can relax a little now because  _someone_  is making sure that Zoro is looked after, he slides into bed and falls easily asleep.

The next day Sanji decides to give his voice a bit of a break and instead head back into town. He’s got a temptation to check on Zeff, just to make sure that his old man is doing okay. He doesn’t want him to know that he’s doing it though so he’ll wait until Zeff goes out. The old man does have some medical conditions that he’s notoriously lackadaisical about keeping an eye on. His diabetes for one, usually the medication is fine to handle it but what should have been a recoverable injury to his leg when Sanji was a kid turned nasty and now Zeff’s leg is all plastic and metal. Zeff’s too busy running his dream business to worry about important things like his health.

He parks around the back of Zoro’s work, and drops inside to annoy his band mate. Zoro looks dead on his feet, unsurprising since the rest of them came down to find Zoro asleep in his bean bag in the studio. The recordings had said that Zoro only went to sleep at about five in the morning after solidly playing his guitar and singing before that. Usopp of course was less than pleased.

Still, Zoro is too tired to annoy much without making Sanji feel a little guilty about it so he leaves the other man alone with a promise to drive him home after work. Zeff’s car is still at the Baratie so Sanji decides to hit up the café across the road and wait for his old man to leave, then he can go in, check the old geezer is feeding himself properly and take stock of his meds to make sure he’s doing that right too. In and out and no one has to have any unwanted father/son bonding feelings. Perfect. His favourite café is just across the way from the Baratie’s car park and affords him a great view of Zeff’s vehicle.

Sanji heads into the café, he used to come here sometimes if he felt like getting away from Zeff during the day. It’s a nice place, a sort of artsy café full of interesting people in the middle of the day, as he’d so frequently worked evenings at the bar before he’d be in when the café was full of different types of people. Students from Chopper’s university having quiet study sessions, mothers out with small children and freelance writers sitting with huge coffees and laptops on their tables. It’s always quiet and pleasant with soft background music, good food and good coffee. Though, seeing as how Zoro works for a little independent coffee company it might be fun to go and see what their coffee is like, with the added bonus of pissing Zoro off at work.

That thought alone makes him grin as he approaches the counter. He orders one of their lovely cold seafood salads as it’s one of his preferred choices from this place, a large latte and one of their nice homemade pastries too. Taking his order he settles down at an empty table and pours over the set list for this Friday.

As he so snottily said to Zoro earlier, he’s got no reason to be nervous about the show. He’s performed with bands for the first time on stage with a set list and songs he’d only heard the day before, this is far more notice than he’d usually get and he’s far more familiar with their own songs. Really, he should be more chilled about this gig than any other.

Only… only he’s not. He knows it’s stupid because he always took his work at the Baratie seriously and he’d kick the face in of any guy who said that he didn’t. But for some reason being the official singer for an actual band just feels somehow more real, more important perhaps. He doesn’t want to let his friends down and perhaps more than that he wants to prove to Zoro that he can do his job. At first it was very much out of spite, as a way to show the other man how wrong he’d been. But now… now Sanji isn’t quite sure what it is that’s motivating this need to impress inside him. He doesn’t really want to think about it. His thoughts about the other man have been increasingly jumbled since Zoro showed up with that black eye and anxious mental state.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” A female voice asks him.

Sanji jolts out of his thoughts and looks up at the pretty girl hovering by his table with a mug of coffee and a jam tart.

“Oh, no, of course not. Please, let me just move this…” Sanji invites her, shuffling his plates and mug around on the small table to make room for her.

She flashes him a nervous smile and sits. She’s quite pretty really. Her long chestnut brown locks are tied up in a messy bun with pencils sticking from it, all the same a few long curled strands are hanging down about her face. Her skin is porcelain pale and flawless and as she sips at her coffee her large thick black rimmed glasses fog up with the steam. She’s got a large lavender post-boy hat and floaty bohemian type clothes that makes Sanji guess art student. 

Sanji doesn’t want to get caught staring so he looks back down at the set list, chewing on his salad thoughtfully as he does so.

“What are you working on?” She asks suddenly, startling him into looking up again.

“Oh, sorry! That was really forward of me!” She apologises quickly with wide eyes behind her thick-rimmed glasses.

“No, it’s fine. It’s… work I suppose.” Sanji answers with the strange sensation that yes, this is his job now.

“You suppose?” the brunette girls asks with a curious tilt of her head, a curl of her long hair falling loose from under her hat.

“I just started doing the thing I love as a job instead of just dreaming about it. It’s taking a while to get used to I guess!” he laughs, feeling a little embarrassed at saying that out loud.

“Oh that’s amazing, they do say if you do something you love then you’ll never have to work a day in your life! What is it you do?” she says with a smile.

“I’m in a band.” Sanji answers happily.

“Oh, a musician huh? Nice. What do you do?” the girl asks with a curious smile, leaning forward and resting her chin on her palm as she watches him through her eyelashes.

“I’m just a singer, I can’t play any instruments unfortunately.” Sanji shrugs and sips his coffee.

“Aw, you shouldn’t be so down on yourself. Singing is hard.” She giggles cutely.

“Well, you’re very kind. I’m Sanji by the way.” He says, realising that he’s not even introduced himself yet. He holds out his hand and the girl shakes it with a smile.

“Amélie.” She smiles back, her girl-next-door charm simply overwhelming Sanji in a flutter of hearts.

“So what’s your singing work then? Are you writing songs?” She chirps curiously, sipping her coffee and craning her neck to see his papers.

“Ah no, I can’t write either. My guitarist is the songwriter, he’s really good, though lately he keeps turning everything I say into song lyrics!” Sanji laughs.

“Just like that?” Amélie says wide eyed, snapping her fingers to illustrate.

“Yeah. I’ve barely been with them any time and he’s already halfway through his second song made from something I said to him. I’m not sure whether to be flattered or annoyed, a little of both I think.” He admits, his mind flicking to Zoro and his stupidly aggressive behaviour but his amusingly gentle side as well. He certainly was a mixed up kind of man.

“Do you like this guy? I mean if he’s writing songs about you…” Amélie trails off, looking at him suspiciously. Sanji jolts, he really hopes that she’s not getting the wrong idea here! Even if Zoro wasn’t still in love with his ex he’s never even thought about Zoro like that.

Not that… well… not that he hasn’t had the occasional passing crush on a guy before. But he’s ever really acted on it or anything. Well… except a few drunken (and not quite so drunken) encounters. But those don’t count! He’s a ladies man damnit. Anyway… Zoro isn’t even anything like the guy that Sanji had maybe sort of slept with a few times, though he supposes that Zoro is alright if you like that whole “good looking brooding talented guitarist” kind of thing.

Shit. Now he’s thinking about it. Goddamnit!

“Aaah, it’s not… we fight all the time. We argue about everything, he’s a stubborn ass but… well, he’s good at what he does.” Sanji explains nervously.

“Tell me something about you now Amélie, are you from around here?” He asks quickly changing the subject with what he hopes is a smooth smile.

“I am actually, though my mother was from France, hence the name.” she explains with a cute smile and then nibbles on her jam tart in possibly the cutest way that any human has ever consumed a jam tart. Aaah, it’s possible that he’s in love already.

“I tend to travel a lot though, so I don’t spend a lot of time here. It makes it hard to keep in touch with people, it’s a little lonely really.” She admits with a sad sigh.

“Oh, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to lose touch with you. And what is they say about absence making the heart grow fonder?” He flutters wistfully, the idea of two lovers separated by distance but not in heart. So romantic!

“You’re sweet, but it doesn’t work out like that really.” Amélie laughs daintily behind her hand.

“Well, if anyone was foolish enough to let a lovely person like you drift away from them then you deserved better in the first place!” Sanji asserts confidently. He can’t believe anyone would want to lose touch with such a sweet innocent flower like her.

“I try to tell myself that, but after a while you start to think there’s something wrong with you, you know?” She sighs sweetly, dusting her hands off after finishing her jam tart.

“Hey, don’t think that. You seem perfectly lovely and sweet to me.” He smiles warmly, no lady should be allowed to feel so lowly of herself, especially one as great as her.

“You’re cute. Here, let’s see if you mean it.” She giggles and scrawls something on her napkin before draining the last of her coffee and disappearing out of the door. Sanji blinks in surprise, she moves fast! He waves to her out of the window and picks the napkin up. Amélie is scrawled across the top with a phone number underneath it. HEY! AMAZING! He’s managed to get the phone number of a pretty girl and his dream job all in the same month!

He pulls out his phone and saves the number and proceeds to immediately text her.

‘ _I told you absence makes the heart grow fonder! –Sanji’_

Only a minute or so later he gets one back.

‘ _You’re a cutie! Maybe I’ll see if I can see you sometime before I hit the road again… -Amélie’_

Sanji finishes up his salad, unable to wipe the huge grin off of his face. When Zeff’s car drives by shortly after he downs his coffee and dashes out of the door with his pastry in between his teeth. He slides inside their house and inspects Zeff’s meds, it seems that he’s been taking them as he’s supposed to which is good. Though it does look rather like he’s reverted to junk food lately which is obviously less good. He sneaks out to the nearby corner shop and fills Zeff’s fridge with healthy vegetables, fresh meat and tasty sauces.

He manages to do all of this and slip back out before Zeff returns home. After that he only spends an hour or so mooching around the city before picking Zoro up and returning home.

They have another practice again that evening, which also goes smoothly with only one run through needed. It gives him plenty of time to text back and forth with Amélie. She’s wonderful to talk to, so sweet and funny. They talk about how his practice is going and, apparently because he’s not already nervous enough about his first gig with the band, invites her to the show. He tells her where and when it will be, knowing that there’s still tickets available on the website as Nami’s been informing them how they’re selling at every possible opportunity.

‘ _How’s the songwriting going with that guitarist then? You BFFs now?’_  Amélie texts him teasingly.

‘ _Nooo! He’s okay, having trouble with the newest 1 for some reason. I think it’s the first show they’ve done in a while, mayb he’s nervous.’_  Sanji texts back his current theory.

‘ _Understandable. And how do you feel about the show? I’m looking forward to hearing you sing!’_  she sends him back.

‘ _With you there I’m sure I’ll be perfectly fine! I wouldn’t want you to hear anything less from me!’_  he smiles as he sends the message. Perhaps she’ll want to see him after the show and maybe they could go on a little date or something, that’d be nice.

‘ _I wanna hear the best you’ve got.’_  She replies.

The day of the gig arrives and the whole band are up at 6 for a breakfast meeting, Robin, Nami and Franky all have work at nine, Chopper has a lunchtime class and Usopp has the day off but has lots of wedding planning to do. 6am is the only time that they’re all free.

“Right, here are copies of the set list for everyone. Zoro are your guitars tuned and packed?” Nami questions.

“Uh-huh, I’m leaving Wado here as I don’t need her for this show and it’s less to unpack there. You’ll test them for me when you get there right Franky?” Zoro nods.

“Yeah, of course. And don’t worry I’ll be super careful with them.” Franky smiles reassuringly.

“Okay.” Zoro agrees reluctantly, Sanji can tell that the guitarist doesn’t like other people handling his instruments.

“Zoro, make sure you put something over that black eye to make it a little less noticeable.” Nami orders, pointing at Zoro.

“Like what, an eyepatch?” Zoro huffs, rolling his eye. The bruise is now a faded purple and yellow colour with the damaged area starting to recede. It looks much better than the earlier black and blue but it’s perhaps at its most vividly noticeable stage.

“No, like makeup.” Nami grouses and kicks Zoro under the table.

“Alright!” the moss head mutters, rubbing at his leg.

“Perfect. Now, Sanji, you’re going to have a change of clothes for Zoro in your car so he’s not performing in anything dirty. We’ve made this mistake before and Zoro ended up on stage covered in coffee stains, not again! Hopefully he won’t need it but if we don’t bring them then I guarantee that he will! Now, you know the route there from Zoro’s work, yes?” she asks him.

“Of course, and I’ll drive as quickly as possible, I promise.” He agrees.

“And you,” Nami adds, turning to Zoro with a scowl, “finish work on time or else I swear I will hunt you to the ends of the earth and pull out your spleen with my bare hands.”

“Could you be less of a psycho, please?” Zoro grumbles, leaning away from their rather frightening (but still gloriously beautiful) manager. Luffy just laughs hysterically as if the whole thing is the funniest thing that he’s ever seen, Robin simply smiles serenely over her coffee mug and Sanji thinks once again that these people are the strangest bunch he’s ever met.

“Alright, okay, work then.” Nami sighs, standing up from the table and straightening out her work shirt. Whilst she’s at home most days in her capacity as a band manager she does have some kind of bespoke financial business on the side that she’s never properly explained to Sanji and in truth when she tried all the financial terms just flew over his head. It seems to pay remarkably well though, but he’d expect no less from Nami.

“I’m picking up the rings today Zoro, I’ll put them in you room when I get back okay? Don’t lose them!” Usopp pleads in a panicky whine.

“I won’t, now go!” Zoro grumbles, batting at his best friend until he leaves with a laugh.

The rest of the group clears to go their separate ways, some to work, Chopper to his class and Luffy back out to… wherever it is Luffy goes. The back of Usopp’s big tour van, which he’s been informed is named Merry for some unknown reason. Though perhaps it was named after their old band with Baby in it, Going Merry.

“Oi, grass hair, come help me wash.” Sanji orders, collecting up plates.

“I don’t have grass hair.” Zoro grouses, shoving him in the arm and dumping an armful of mugs in the sink.

“Seen a mirror lately without it cracking? You’re green.” Sanji teases.

“Doesn’t mean it’s grass! Anyway, at least I don’t have my face half covered so I stand a chance of at least seeing a mirror.” The other man retorts.

“Hey, I’d rather have one eye covered up than wander around with a massive black eye on show.” He grins.

“Whatever. Do you want my help or not?” Zoro huffs, looking at Sanji with his hands on his hips.

“Yeah, yeah. You dry I’ll wash.” Sanji agrees and sets about with the task in relative silence, passing wet dishes to Zoro to dry. They work their way through half of them in what Sanji thinks is a comfortable silence but Zoro’s got this thoughtful scowl on his face like he’s been having lately. Ever since he wrote that new song that’s not come out right he’s been like this, he’ll occasionally disappear to tinker with it more but apparently no matter what he does it’s not playing ball. It must be really frustrating.

“I kind of wish we could play both new songs, you know? I’d like to be able to release both now.” Zoro says suddenly into the silent room.

“But you’re not even happy with it, and Nami’s decided on the set list.” He reasons, trying to defend Nami’s decision.

“That’s crap, I’ve got the guitar, you’ve got it embedded into your brain until the day you die and Luffy can drum along to anything. Franky’s pretty good with adlibbing bass if he loses his place and Usopp’s fine with improvisation if he has to. Sometimes performing it in front of people is just what you need to fix something like that.” Zoro argues with a pout.

“If you say so, seems a little mean to make the audience your guinea pigs for that though.” Sanji shrugs. Zoro grumbles unhappily in response and Sanji decides to leave that argument be.

“Oh, I’ll give you a lift to work, that way you don’t have to throw your bike in the back when I pick you up and we waste less time.” Sanji offers.

“Yeah. Well, I start at 11, so I’ll see you down here at 10:15?” Zoro says, stacking the last plate on the draining board, that one can air dry he supposes.

“Sure.” Sanji agrees and Zoro nods and disappears out of the room.

Sanji starts putting the dishes away, mentally running through the set list for the thousandth time and he’s not nervous goddamnit! In his pocket his phone pings and Sanji pulls it out as he replaces the last mug in the cupboard.

‘ _Really looking forward to your show tonight.’_  It’s from Amélie!

‘ _I’ll see you there!’_  Sanji texts back giddily. Maybe after she hears him sing she’ll agree to be his girlfriend!

‘ _Count on it’_ comes the reply.

After he’s dropped Zoro off at work he goes home and spends forever deciding on what to wear tonight, having narrowed it down to two choices he sets them aside and then slides his headphones on and listens to a playlist of tonight’s songs, including a version of their new song “When You’re Around” that Chopper has cleaned up and made into an actual recording. Sanji has to admit in an entirely narcissistic way that hearing his own voice sound so good in a song is amazing and seeing it on his iPhone with all of the proper track and album titles on it makes it somehow more real. It feels like he’s a real musician now, not just some guy who sings sometimes at his job.

He showers and scrubs his hair, he shaves with incredible precision, leaving his perfectly manly goatee alone though. He makes lunch nervously for those left in the house and cleans nervously. He makes dinner early for everyone so that it’s ready when those with sensibly timed jobs unlike Zoro’s get to eat as soon as they get through the door.

He changes into the first outfit and looks at himself in the mirror, tight black jeans and his blue pinstripe shirt. He panics and decides that he doesn’t like it after he’s put his shoes on so he has to take everything off and start again. He changes into the second outfit of a pink casual tee shirt and beige khakis, he puts his orange sneakers on and brushes his hair until it’s shiny smooth. With a frustrated growl he changes his mind again and goes back to the first outfit and has to brush his hair all over again as it got slightly mussed in the changing.

He helps the others check that everything they need is in the van aside from Zoro’s spare clothing in the back of his car. He’s supposed to wait a while before going off to collect Zoro but he’s too paranoid of anything going wrong to do so. He heads away from their sleepy town of Syrup and into the city, it’s an easy trip and he parks outside of the back of Zoro’s coffee place and heads inside. Before he can get to the door though his phone pings with a message.

‘ _Hey, is your show still on?’_  It’s Amélie, she must be worried that she won’t get to see him! How cute!

‘ _Of course! I’ll see you there, I’ve got to go and get my guitarist!’_ he replies quickly.

The coffee shop is called Dojo and Sanji is pleased to see that it’s already closed, though the lights are on. He bangs on the shut door.

“We’re fucking CLOSED can’t you- oh, hold up!” Zoro’s tirade halts when he spots Sanji at the door. Zoro jogs over and opens it quickly to let him in and shuts and locks it behind him.

“You’re early.” Zoro adds over his shoulder.

“You’re drenched.” Sanji notes, taking a step away from Zoro. It’s true, he’s completely covered in coffee from head to toe, he’s even dripping on the floor.

“Really? I hadn’t fucking noticed!” Zoro bitches irritably, returning to the counter with squishy steps. There’s whipped cream in his hair, it’s really jarringly funny.

“What the hell happened? You’re lucky I’ve got clean clothes.” Sanji notes, silently praising Nami’s brilliance.

“Let’s just say someone thought the last drink I made would be better on me than in them.” Zoro grumbles, swiping at his skin with a dry cloth by the coffee machine. Zoro’s cheeks are a little pink and Sanji can’t help but wonder how hot that drink was when Zoro got it chucked over him.

“Are you okay?” he asks worriedly.

“Yeah, I’m fine. But at this rate we’re not going to get out of here in time so you could help.” Zoro grouses.

“Tell me what to do and see if you can wash your hair in the sink or something, you’ve got a lump of cream like… right here.” Sanji says gesturing to his own hair. Zoro reaches up and pulls it free with an angry sneer.

“AGH. Flip the chairs and put them on the tables so I can mop I’ve got a load of coffee to clear up back here.” The guitarist sighs, flicking the glob of cream into the sink.

“Throw me something to clean ‘em with.” Sanji orders. Zoro throws a squirt bottle of cleaner and a rag at Sanji and he gets to work. This is something that he had to do routinely in the Baratie so he knows what he’s doing. He feels his phone ping in his pocket but waits until all the tables are done before checking it, it’s from Amélie again.

‘ _YOUR guitarist? A little possessive hm?’_  Amélie teases him. Sanji would usually reply but he’s too busy right now. He shoves his phone back in his pocket and ducks behind the counter, Zoro is rinsing off his hair in the sink and Sanji finds a clean towel for him. He leans over and rubs it in Zoro’s clean hair and leaves him to it, grunting a ‘you’re welcome’ to Zoro’s muffled thanks from under the towel.

He grabs a mop and bucket and makes quick work of the floor. He gets behind the counter where Zoro is cashing up with a towel on his head, he hops up onto the counter so that Sanji can mop up the considerable coffee mess on the floor.

Zoro takes the money to the safe and locks that up and powers down the coffee maker, switching off all of the mysterious things on it and emptying parts and rinsing others whilst Sanji pours the dirty water from the mop bucket down the sink.

Despite the time pressure he’s feeling pretty relaxed, nothing like the nervous energy that he was running on earlier. Again he’s struck with the feeling that when he and Zoro shut up and work together they actually make a pretty goddamn good team.

Zoro is just switching off all of the lights when the clock ticks to the end of his shift, no way would he have made it if Sanji hadn’t gotten here early and helped out.

“Thanks Sanji.” Zoro mumbles as he locks the building up and jogs with Sanji to his car.

“It’s no problem. Get in the back and change, I’m gonna have to speed a bit so try not to crack your head on a window or anything.

“Got it. I brought these so I wouldn’t ruin your seats.” Zoro adds, holding up two garbage bags, one for his damp coffee clothes and another for him to sit on he’s also brought the towel that he’d used on his hair. Smart, thoughtful too.

Zoro hops in the back behind him and pulls off his shoes and socks first, chucking them into the first bag. Sanji looks over his shoulder as he reverses, just as Zoro peels off his damp shirt.

Zoro is… surprisingly muscular. His coffee coated six pack makes Sanji’s mind flatline for a second or two and he nearly reverses into the dumpster in the car park, not that Zoro notices. That’s not the main thing occupying his attention right now. There’s a huge scar running diagonal along Zoro’s chest from shoulder to hip, the kind of nasty looking scar that doesn’t look like someone alive should be able to have.

“Fucking HELL! How did you get that?!” He yelps, eyeing it. Zoro’s fingers come to the scar, running along it like it contains some secret important memory.

“I was protecting someone from a psycho with a knife, are you driving or what?” Zoro says, changing the subject.

“Right, right.” Sanji nods and faces forward and pulls out of the car park.

His mind flicks to what Usopp told him about Baby and her father, how he was an abusive fuck and how Zoro stepped between them. He… he has a feeling that the psycho in question must have been him. How many people does Zoro protect like that after all? Shit. That’s a lot of dedication to someone to get nearly cut in half to protect them. Zoro did all that and Baby still left him?

Sanji’s eyes flick to his rear view mirror in time to see Zoro run the towel over his shirtless torso, getting the last of the coffee off of him. The flex and ripple of Zoro’s abs make Sanji’s face heat. Damn Amélie and her teasing about his feelings towards Zoro, it was strictly platonic, work related and antagonistic. Not… not something… else. He chews his lip and lets his eyes flick back into the mirror. Oh fuck, this should be straight up porn. Zoro’s got this hard V of muscle that just dives into his slick wet jeans in a way that porn and underwear adverts never ever manage to pull off this well. Zoro pops the button on his jeans and slides them down, Sanji’s eyes bug out and he very nearly drives them into oncoming traffic.

Sanji now knows two things, Zoro for some reason has green hair down there too and also that Zoro doesn’t wear underwear. Holy FUCK.

“Eyes on the road pervert.” Zoro says, leaning right over into Sanji’s ear, his voice all deep and… oh _god_  why is this HAPPENING?!

“You’re the one getting NAKED in the back of my car! Where’s your goddamn UNDERWEAR?!” Sanji yelps, grabbing Zoro’s clean clothes from the front passenger seat and hurling them in the back with Zoro. He returns his hands to the wheel, his grip white knuckled.

“Don’t wear ‘em.” Zoro answers casually. His legs kicking up in the rear view mirror as he shimmies into dark green jeans, his hips arc as he puts his feet back down and does up the button on the jeans. This should be  _illegal_ , hell it might be! Zoro slides into a cool white shirt and climbs into the front of the car, casually as anything he zips himself into his boots and buckles himself in, entirely ignoring the aneurism and quiet sexual crisis happening in the privacy of Sanji’s skull.

“Oh, hey. We’re nearly here, right on time too.” Zoro notes as Sanji cuts across several lanes of traffic, ignoring blaring horns and screeches into Loguetown’s parking area at the back.

Both of them spring from the car in a scramble, Robin is already waiting at the back door for them, holding it open with a smile.

“Cutting it fine boys.” Robin notes and shuts the door after them. Zoro slides his guitar strap over his shoulder and runs through a few scales, his head tilted as if to better hear the sound and check that it’s in tune. He peeks around the door into the bar and sees that it’s packed, his stomach churns anxiously and he can feel his throat tensing up. Zoro’s hand lands on his shoulder and pulls him back from the door.

“I know you’re not going to give me the satisfaction of being right about you, are you? I said you couldn’t do this, but I know you, you’re a spiteful bastard and you’re gonna do anything to prove me wrong, huh?” Zoro says softly into his ear, a voice gentle in a way that belies the challenging and mean words.

“Of course I’m not gonna let you be fucking right, you’d be insufferable.” Sanji manages, trying to suppress the tremble that runs through himself. What if he screws this up? What if the others realise that they made a mistake here? What- what if the reason Zoro can’t finish that song is because he doesn’t belong here?

“Anyway Nami’s still being a fascist about the microphones, see? So you’re not even gonna be looking at the crowd anyway. I’ll be stuck staring at your stupid face the whole set, it’s gonna suck.” Zoro adds, leaning past Sanji to point. He’s right… he can just pretend that the crowd isn’t even there!

“I’ll try to contain my gag reflex.” Sanji snipes back a little weakly.

“Same.” Zoro agrees.

“Come on, get your butts out there!” Nami orders, giving them both a firm push in the back and herding the rest of the band out behind them.

The room explodes into applause and in the sudden brightness of the stage lights Sanji can’t quite see the crowd. That’s… that’s good for now. He settles himself up on stage and tries to imagine that the lights are a little bluer, that this is the Baratie, that it’s his stage. The illusion works a little and his shoulders relax some.

“So, hey.” Zoro says, leaning into the microphone, the crowd cheers and Zoro grins completely at ease.

“You may have heard that we’ve got ourselves a singer… obviously.” He adds, flicking his eyes to Sanji.

“His name is Sanji and I fucking hate him, we’re actually going to start off with a new song that I wrote about how much we can’t stand each other.” Zoro adds with a smirk.

All of Sanji’s previous good will and fuzzy feelings towards Zoro burn up like they’re entering the sun. That fucking bastard just convinced him up here so he could try to humiliate him in public! Oh man, he’s gonna kick his fucking FACE IN!

Sanji’s world narrows down to the object of his hatred and he steps up to the mic as Zoro’s guitar into brings. Sanji forces all of his loathing into his words and begins to sing their song. Cursing Zoro for never listening to him, cursing him for every fucking nasty thing he’s ever said, about how he can’t stand to be around him!

He’s about three quarters of the way through the song before the thought occurs that maybe Zoro did this deliberately, that he pissed him off just to draw that emotion out and to ensure a good performance. The smug grin on Zoro’s face confirms just that. Okay, so Zoro’s not a jerk, he’s an insufferable bastard and Sanji still can’t stand to be around him. But he feels a little less vindictive now, but he’s getting into the energy of the song and as they sing together their harmony is even more pitch perfect than it’s ever been in a recording.

Zoro’s last chord dies and hangs in the air and the crowd  _screams_  for them. Sanji’s heart is going a million miles an hour and he can’t stop grinning, they did it! And they did it with a song that means no one will be comparing his singing to Zoro’s, which… was just as Zoro planned. Wow.

He looks up at his guitarist to grin at him only to see that Zoro has gone pale, his hands loose on his guitar as he stares out to a fixed point in the audience. Sanji follows his gaze and sees… he has to squint from the light but he thinks that it’s Amélie, she’s got her hair down and she’s dressed totally differently but he thinks it’s her.

Her long dark curls hang heavily around her face, her bangs unobscured by her hat this time. It’s funny, with her big glasses off she almost looks… like… Baby.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck FUCK!

It is her! Amélie is Baby and Baby is Amélie! He knows that he’s only ever seen pictures of her or videos but she was dressed so different and with those glasses he hadn’t managed to place her. Hell! He’d been texting her about Zoro, she’d been asking about him and how is he so  _stupid?!_

His eyes flick to Zoro and the other man looks hollow and weak, worse than he did after he showed up at first with that black eye. Seeing her again must be a real punch in the gut, or… well, or a slap in the face even. And for her to be here deliberately at Sanji’s debut as their official new singer. Well, there’s no doubting the malicious message there. He looks back at her, her smile is predatory now and Sanji can’t see any hint of the sweet girl that he met in the café, the one who was chirpy and dainty with her jam tart and her coffee. Now Sanji can just see Zoro’s ex who seems to be going to all lengths to rip his heart out again.

Zoro is frozen and the crowd are starting to notice, Zoro’s got that look that Sanji’s oh so good at identifying in musicians. He’s not going to be able to play, he’s choking. He’s seen it in singers before, how they take one look at the crowd and their voice just dies, how guitarists suddenly become all thumbs and freeze up. But now there’s no one to step in and Sanji will  _not_  let Zoro give in to this, he won’t be part of something that hurts Zoro like this all because he was too dumb to identify someone from a picture to them in real life.

He takes a step back from the mic and hisses a direction to the rest of the band.

“Everything Is Alright, just play it!” He orders, his voice no nonsense.

Luffy leaps at the drumkit, bashing out the rhythm. This is a crazy last ditch attempt to save Zoro and drag him back into the music, a way to make the crowd think that Zoro is just playing with this damaged act, that it’s all part of a performance. He leaps back to the microphone and slams his hand into Zoro’s shoulder and sings/shouts the first few lines as Franky’s bass joins in, silently begging Zoro to snap out of it.

“ _Tell me that you're alright,_

_Yeah everything is alright.”_

Zoro is still looking right at her so Sanji reaches over and grabs Zoro’s chin in his hand, pulling Zoro to look at him. He forces every ounce of desperation for Zoro to be okay into his voice and it’s the most real and emotional that it’s sounded than in any practice. Zoro’s eyes start to focus on him.

“ _Oh please tell me that you're alright,_

_Yeah everything is alright.”_

Zoro’s eyes are sharp and bright and suddenly he explodes into motion, the chords playing all high energy and desperate, faster than they’d been played in practice and full of some kind of musical begging. He doesn’t know how he knows but this is the musical equivalent of Zoro telling him that he’s not okay, Zoro needs him to keep this up or he’ll fall apart.

Sanji sings again, trying to reassure Zoro with his tone and his words that it’ll be okay, that he’s not going anywhere.

“ _Give me a reason to end this discussion,_

_To break with tradition._

_To fold and divide.”_

His voice goes a little soft as he starts the next part.

“ _Cause I hate the ocean, theme parks and airplanes,_

_Talking with strangers, waiting in line._

_I'm through with these pills that make me sit still._

_Are you feeling fine?"_

Suddenly Zoro breaks in with the next line, an answer to the question in the song.

“ _Yes, I feel just fine.”_

Sanji grins, it’s perfect. It’s a real dialog, but he doesn’t believe that Zoro’s fine at all. He continues, repeating the chorus and beginning the verse after it with a smile.

“ _Tell me that you're alright,_

_Yeah everything is alright._

_Oh please tell me that you're alright,_

_Yeah everything is alright.”_

_I'm sick of the things I do when I'm nervous_

_Like cleaning the oven or checking my tires_

_Or counting the number of tiles in the ceiling”_

Zoro laughs and chips the last line in, the memory of his ill advised cleaning on the day of his black eye flashing over his face as Sanji remembers it too.

“ _Head for the hills, the kitchen's on fire!”_

“ _I used to rely on self-medication,_

_I guess I still do that from time to time._

_But I'm getting better at fighting the future,_

_Someday you'll be fine."_

“Yes, I'll be just fine.” Zoro answers and this time he too joins in with the chorus, their voices powerful and perfect together. He fills in the higher spectrum that Zoro can’t reach whilst Zoro’s rich beautiful bass add colour and tone to their words.

“ _Tell me that you're alright,_

_Yeah everything is alright._

_Oh please tell me that you're alright,_

_Yeah everything is alright.”_

The guitar notes flow out beautifully and Sanji takes a second to let the power of Zoro’s skill rush over him, his eyes fluttering shut for one blissful moment. This is perfect, it has all the realness and magic that the song never had in the studio. He would sell his soul to keep this feeling forever.

He opens his eyes and Zoro is staring right at him, his dark eyes pinning Sanji to the floor and ripping the words right out of his soul. He starts to sing again but Zoro does too, only Zoro is making up words, new words which are sung under and after Sanji’s own lyrics. The effect is that of… not quite a conversation, but perhaps the thoughts that Zoro has or is having right now, when the last line hits they both sing together again, sending a powerful jolt through Sanji’s system.

“ _Give me a reason (I don't believe a word)_

_To end this discussion (of anything I've heard)_

_To break with tradition (they tell me that it's not so hard)_

_To fold and divide (it's not so hard)_

_So let's not get carried (away with everything)_

_Away with the process (from here to in-between)_

_of elimination (the long goodbye)_

_I don't want to waste your time._

_Tell me that you're alright,_

_Yeah everything is alright._

_Oh please tell me that you're alright,_

_Yeah everything is alright.”_

“Alright” Zoro adds with a grin and pulls the guitar tempo up for the end of the song, another unscripted change that just  _works_  and makes Sanji’s blood fizz. Sanji sings again and Zoro starts his counter singing again. It really should make the song worse, that overlapping, but it makes it a million times better. The room is filled with their strange chemistry and he’s sure that everyone else must be able to feel it, surely.

“ _Tell me that you're alright, (Hi, everything's great)_

_Yeah everything is alright. (Everything's fine)_

_Oh please tell me that you're alright, (Hi, everything's great)_

_Yeah everything is alright.”_

Zoro finishes the song with more unscripted lyrics and Sanji’s glad because with the way Zoro’s looking at him right now he’s not sure he could make another note. Zoro’s dark eyes are filled with nine million things right now, trust and gratitude, understanding and trust it’s all just so… overwhelming.

 

“ _Everything's fine, everything’s fine, everything’s fine, everything’s fine.”_  He trails off lowly and the last notes of his guitar hang in the air, humming in Sanji’s lungs and ruining his brain forever because nothing else will ever be so powerful or important in Sanji’s entire life.

He’s jolted out of this when the crowd screeches and hollers, clapping like it’s the best thing they’ve seen, stamping their feet and literally screaming at them. Sanji laughs, bright and high on Zoro’s energy. He looks out into the crowd and sees that Amélie/Baby looks torn between utter shock and total horror. Sanji grins at her, he won’t let her exercise that amount of power over his guitarist ever again. He doesn’t stop to examine that potentially troubling thought as the rest of the band launch into the rest of the set list as if they hadn’t just thrown in that impromptu song. The cues drilled into them kick in and Sanji starts to sing the next song, pouring his focus into that, though he does notice when Baby storms out of the venue, even if Zoro doesn’t.

The gig seems to last in some bubble of time that feels amazingly real when it’s happening but somehow it’s suddenly over. The crowd loves them and he and Zoro spend the entire set perfectly in synch and in harmony, it’s easily the best run through they’ve ever had.

Afterwards Sanji stumbles down the stairs with adrenaline drunk legs, Zoro catching the back of his shirt on the last step as he trips, all uncoordinated and dizzy from the rush. The crowd going mad behind them is still sending shivers up Sanji’s spine and he’s a complete mess, leaning against Zoro and laughing at nothing and everything.

“Wow.” Nami says simply, looking at them all, but particularly him and Zoro as they come into the back room. Sanji can’t tell from her tone if she’s impressed, angry or pleased but he thinks that it might be all three at once.

“That was both the best and worst thing ever, nice save though.” Nami nods at them, her arms folded over her chest.

“I should have guessed that  _she_  would show up though. Next time I’m going to wait at the back of the room and if she shows up again I’ll destroy her.” Robin says in a macabre tone, her eyes deadly serious.

Sanji doesn’t have the will to argue, he’s not sure that someone shouldn’t stand up to Baby or Amélie, whatever she wanted to go by.

“How did she find out about the show though?” Brook sighs, rubbing his forehead.

A flash of guilt surges through him at that, was it his fault that she showed up at all? Had she deliberately met him, all dressed up so it was likely he wouldn’t place her? He was the one who had told her about the gig though, he could tell himself that it was on the internet and she could have found it on her own but… who knows?

“Can we just pack up and go?” Zoro sighs, pushing away from the wall and away from where Sanji is paralyzed by guilt.

The band all start packing, hauling their shit from the back to the van over and over again. By the time they go up on stage to pack Luffy’s drum kit in the back as the last thing the crowd is all gone, the room seems strangely empty and Sanji finds it hard to believe that magic happened just so recently right here when now it looks so normal. Even so, he can’t shake the guilty thread winding its way through his insides. It’s still there even when he and Zoro climb back into Sanji’s slightly coffee scented car alone together.

“If… if I did something awful by accident but apologised could you forgive me?” Sanji asks, his gaze flicking nervously to Zoro.

“That’s kind of an impossible question to answer without more information, but sure, what is it?” Zoro sighs scrubbing at his face tiredly. Sanji leans over and opens the glove compartment by Zoro’s knees and pulls his phone out, he opens his messages and hands the phone to Zoro.

“I didn’t realise who she was, she looked so different, it’s only when I saw you looking at her tonight and start freaking out that I realised they were the same person. She told me her name was-” Sanji explains in a panic.

“Amélie.” Zoro cuts in, his voice sombre. He scrolls through Sanji’s messages back and forth to her as guilt washes hotly over Sanji’s neck.

“She told you her name was Amélie.” Zoro says, almost to himself.

“That’s how she used to be, what she used to be called too until she started going by Baby and became…” Zoro trails off. He shakes his head and hands the phone back to Sanji. He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees and clasps his hands behind the back of his neck like they tell you to in those booklets on planes when you’re about to crash. Is that how Zoro feels?

“Let me guess. She was all sweet, gentle and funny, she made you feel like you were the only person in the room and that all you wanted to do was to make her laugh. She seemed really nice and she wanted to know all about you.” Zoro says flatly.

“I’m so sorry.” Sanji croaks out.

“Don’t be, really.” Zoro sighs, sitting up in his seat and flashing Sanji a weak reassuring smile.

“You’re not the only one to be taken in. She can flick from being like that… from being Amélie to being Baby like that.” Zoro says, snapping his fingers.

“You won’t be the last man to fall for it and you certainly weren’t the first. She would have been there tonight even if she hadn’t tracked you down. She wasn’t going to miss the chance to see just who had taken her spot. She’d be pissed if you sucked because then we’ve replaced her with someone worse than her and she’d be furious if you were better because then she’ll be jealous, it’s a catch 22.” Zoro groans, combing a hand through his slightly coffee stiff hair.

“And what will she be?” Sanji asks nervously, anxious to know if his assessment of their incredible harmony is one sided or not.

Zoro’s face breaks out into a grin, paired with his black eye he looks a little crazed actually.

“She’ll be mind-bendingly livid.” Zoro smirks toothily, making Sanji’s skin tingle.

“Seriously, don’t worry about her. You didn’t do anything wrong, let’s just go home and crash. I feel like I could sleep for a week.” The guitarist reassures him, sliding back in his seat with a sinful stretch that reminds Sanji of earlier.

“Well considering that you’ve not slept in about that long I’m not surprised.” Sanji says tightly, pulling out of Loguetown and onto the road.

“Yeah, well, I’m tired now. You will be too when the adrenaline crashes your system.” Zoro says and yawns so hard that his jaw cracks. He snuggles down into the seat and totally starts to doze as Sanji drives them back. It’s bad enough that when they pull up to the house he has to pull a half asleep, loose limbed Zoro out of his car and tug him to the house.

By then Sanji is tired enough himself that he too wants to sleep forever, so the two of them gracelessly ascend the stairs up to their shared floor, arms wrapped around each other, muttering quiet goodnights as they part ways in the hall.

“Hey Sanji,” Zoro’s sleep drunk voice calls him. Sanji pauses in shutting his door and looks up at the desperately tired guitarist, leaning against his own door frame and looking at Sanji sleepily.

“Thanks for tonight, for everything.” Zoro says, whisper quiet and oh so sincere.

“Thanks for letting me.” Sanji replies just as earnestly. He means it too, Zoro’s taken him to places he’s never even imagined, the way he felt with Zoro onstage makes him feel like he’s been living his whole life on mute and only just turned the sound on. He’s never felt more alive than he had tonight, and it’s all because of Zoro.

“Night, curly brow.” Zoro yawns and goes into his room.

“Night coffee-moss.” Sanji agrees, doing the same, noticing Zoro flip him off in the corner of his vision.

Sanji clumsily strips and, too tired to bother with bedclothes, falls into his bed naked and spends the last of his energy pulling the duvet up to his chin before falling unconscious.

  
  


  
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, the song for this one is Everything is Alright by Motion City Soundtrack and I HIGHLY recommend listening to it.


	6. Chapter 6

Sanji isn’t really sure what to make of Zoro anymore. At first he thought that Zoro was just a big mean jerk and he kind of is but in a… nice… way? That doesn’t even make sense. Zoro doesn’t make any fucking sense. Zoro is the most aggressive foul mouthed motherfucker that Sanji has ever had the fortune to meet. Or misfortune. Whatever. 

So, he’s an abrasive jerk, but he’s talented too. So stupidly talented, with the song writing and his guitar skills. So okay, Sanji can respect that. But equally there’s this other side to Zoro, this fucked up damaged side where his ex managed to leave big ass claw marks in his psyche when she ripped out his heart. It’s sort of endearing almost. Zoro’s been through a lot of shit but he’s still kind to his friends, in a mean abrasive aggressive kind of way. Apparently he’s a complex guy. 

Sanji still has a bit of a thing for puzzles and Zoro is a giant puzzle. He wants in on it, he wants to know how Zoro makes his songs and why some things are song material and why some things aren’t, specifically why he keeps ripping off their arguments for songs. 

He rolls over in bed and remembers last night, he remembers that electric feeling of him and Zoro singing together, of he and Zoro breathing life into a song that had previously been broken and not working. It was nothing short of magic.

He decides that there’s only so much laying around in bed that he can do, even if he is a musician now and stupidly lazy hours to start the day were almost in the job description. He has some standards after all. He climbs out of his warm and oh so tempting bed and into the shower, he locks his door into the bathroom and Zoro’s, he really doesn’t need the guitarist barging in on his shower. 

He turns the shower on and lets it warm up for a little while whilst he brushes his teeth, watching the mirror steam up as he does so. After that he slides into the shower, making sure that the shower curtain is pulled far enough over so that the spray doesn’t get over the edge of the bath and soak the floor. 

He suds up his hair with his personal organic coconut conditioner and rinses it carefully, then he wrings the water out of his hair and massages in the matching coconut butter conditioner, using his fingers to comb it through his locks. At least he takes care of his hair, unlike Zoro. Despite all of the bleaching and dying that Zoro must go through to get his hair that colour he doesn’t exactly look after it, Zoro’s got some gross own brand 2 in 1 hair stuff that probably cost him all of two bucks and it’s all gunky around the rim of the bottle. Ick. He’s only got one soap as well which also looks like some kind of cheap shit, not the pleasant essential oil tea tree and spearmint expensive stuff that Sanji has. Zoro is such a caveman. 

He rinses his hair through for a while and when he’s sure that it’s squeaky clean and free of conditioner he turns the spray off and steps out from the shower. He wipes the mirror clear of steam and looks at himself, he supposes that he could shave, though he only did it last night but it doesn’t look like it. He brings out his razor and examines the blade, it’s dull as hell, no wonder it didn’t do much. He must have been too anxious last night to have really noticed. He unclips the blade and, wrapping a towel around himself, ducks back into his own room and goes into his desk, he thinks that he threw the razor heads in there when he got bored of unpacking sensibly and just resorted to shoving handfuls of stuff out to sight. 

He attaches the razor head and grabs the packet of remaining ones figuring that he should really find a real home for them whilst he’s at it. He places the razor on the edge of the sink, he supposes that he could put the spare heads in the bathroom medicine cupboard, the one with the mirror on. 

He opens it and is surprised to find it stuffed full to bursting, which is a real surprise considering Zoro’s thus far entirely Spartan bathroom products. However, upon closer inspection it’s not toiletries in here, not really. There are bottles of pills, varying different strengths of pain medication ranging from ibuprofen to straight up industrial strength codeine. There’s rubbing alcohol and iodine, an array of bandages in new packets, butterfly stitches, sticking plasters and support bandages. There’s a bottle of witch hazel cream and surprisingly several different kinds of makeup in a few odd colours as well as one that looks like Zoro’s skin tone. What the hell does Zoro need all of this stuff for? Even the first aid kit at the Baratie wasn’t this well stocked! It’s so full to bursting that there isn’t even any room for Sanji’s razor heads. With a frown Sanji decides that maybe he’ll keep them in his desk and shaves quickly in the mirror. 

He unlocks both bathroom doors again and heads back into his room, wondering about Zoro mysteriously well stocked medicine cabinet. He supposes that Zoro does seem to get into fights and bike accidents a lot from what the others say, but still that’s awfully well prepared. 

His phone rings, pulling him from his thoughts. He quickly steps to his bed and picks it up, “Amélie” flashes up on the screen. At first he’s tempted to not answer, to just stay away from that whole mess, but it’s rude not to answer a lady. With some reluctance he picks up the phone, fully on his guard this time. 

“Hello?” He greets cautiously. 

“I didn’t think that you’d actually pick up.” Amélie or… Baby he supposes says flatly.

“I probably shouldn’t be.” Sanji admits, sitting down on his bed.

“If you were going to hang up on me I think you would have done it already, which means that you want to talk to me. So how about this, I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine.” She says confidently down the phone to him.

 

“I’ll go first then, did you follow me to that café? Did you deliberately find me to trick me?” He asks unhappily, still feeling monumentally stupid for not recognising her. He’s like those idiots in superman who suddenly are fooled by the addition of glasses and a business suit.

 

“No, I just happened to be in the area, I do live nearby you know. I told you that much already. But I did pick your table on purpose.” She concedes rather honestly, or… it sounds honest anyway, Sanji has no way of telling.

 

“But why?” He asks with a frown.

 

“Ah-ah. My turn. How is Zoro?” She asks in his ear with a purr.

 

Sanji freezes, what would be a bad answer to give her here? He doesn’t want to make her feel like she won by telling her how torn up Zoro was about the whole thing, but equally he doesn’t want to sound like he’s over-exaggerating how okay Zoro is, that will just make it sound like he’s definitely not fine.

 

“He’s fine. We all thought the show went really well, amazingly well actually. Maybe he just wasn’t expecting to see you there.” Sanji answers cagily.

 

“Oh no, he was expecting me.” She chuckles and Sanji finds himself scowling, was this why Zoro was so opposed to having a show at all?

 

“What do you mean?” He frowns, he’d intended on asking her if she’d deliberately deceived him or if she’d just realised that he hadn’t recognised her and rolled with it. Instead that came out. 

 

“I talked to him of course.” She answers as if it’s obvious. 

 

Sanji’s blood runs cold. She was talking to Zoro still? If… if she was then it’s no wonder that he’s been so messed up lately, no wonder that he’s been going out and getting into fights to deal with his emotions. 

 

“You’re still talking to him.” He repeats numbly. 

 

“Didn’t I just say that? I heard about the show online and asked him about it, told him he should do the show so I could find out what you were like.” She says simply. 

 

Zoro’s sudden change of heart about the gig comes to mind. He’d been so adamant and then, well, not in favour but hopeless, as if he didn’t have a choice about it. Sanji sucks in a sharp breath. She’d… made him do it somehow. He remembers Zoro quietly admitting that he wasn’t okay and it’s all because of her. She’s the one that made Zoro rip all of those songs from himself to try to get the release from them, feelings of being trapped by this thing they had, of hating her and loving her all in one, of wanting her back and wishing he’d never met her. She did this. 

 

Something inside of Sanji’s chest lights up like an emergency flare, bright and hot and powerful. He can’t put a name on what it is right now but it is _strong_. 

 

“We’re not playing this game anymore. Leave Zoro alone.” He says. He can hear his voice, he sounds steely and fierce, he’s never spoken to a woman this way, never. How could he dare to? Women were supposed to be treated with love and kindness always, no matter how awful they were. The black eye that Zoro went out and got to fix himself from her flashes behind his eyes. The flare in his chest burns a little brighter. 

 

"What?" She says, her voice heavy and sharp.

 

"Amélie or Baby, whatever you want to go by. I told you this already, I just didn't know who you were. Zoro is my guitarist, you gave him up remember?" He warns, wanting her to stay far away from Zoro, to not speak to him or go near him again.

 

"You don't know shit Sanji, he chose that stupid band with his talentless friends and those whore women over me, he betrayed me. He should be glad that I still talk to him." She snarls at him, she sounds mean now. Like the others all said she was.

 

"That's not how I heard it." Sanji says simply. 

 

There's a pause down the line, as if Baby is thinking through what to say next very carefully.

 

"What has Zoro told you about me?" She asks. Her voice makes the question sound simple and Sanji can't quite see how it wouldn't be but he has a suspicion that something else is going on here though he doesn't know exactly what that might be.

 

"He's not told me anything about you. Everyone else has told me plenty of things though." He answers, figuring that the truth is the best bet here.

 

"They all hate me. I told you what it's like being alone, don't you remember what you said? About how anyone who'd hate me would be awful? And here you are already hating me, you don't even know me!" She whimpers and Sanji actually feels bad for her. He doesn't know if all the stuff she said to him about feeling alone was genuine or not but right now it certainly sounds like it was. He doesn't know what to do about that. 

 

"Maybe you should just both stay away from each other, if you and Zoro didn't work out then maybe you're both better off apart. You seemed okay to me but..." He trails off. He doesn't want to say that she's hurting Zoro although she obviously is, he doesn't want to give her the satisfaction if she's malicious and that's her aim. Nor does he want to hurt her if she's just as ruined about their breakup as Zoro obviously is and is just blundering around trying to deal with it just like Zoro is. Either way they need to be apart. 

 

"You're awfully possessive over him, you're just the singer for that stupid band for now. What makes you think you mean anything to him? You're just temporary." She says coldly. 

 

"Maybe, but I hope not." Sanji shrugs. 

 

"Maybe you ought to keep your nose out of places it doesn't belong. Go back to wherever the hell you came from before here, learn to sing and then go join someone else's band. Stay away from Zoro." She says issuing her own challenge, much like his own.

 

"No." Sanji answers firmly. 

 

The line disconnects and Sanji holds his phone out to see that she's hung up on him. 

 

He chews on his lip. That was so unlike him and yet that road flare in his chest seems to have vanished. He's never like this with women and yet... yet he just was. 

 

Speaking of women should he go and tell Nami about this? She loathes Baby and she'd be livid if she found out that Zoro was still talking to her. But perhaps that's a good reason not to, no reason to get Zoro into trouble, he's just trying to deal with that shitty breakup as best as he can. Poor bastard. 

 

He scrubs his hands through his hair and throws his towel onto the floor and starts to get dressed for the day. He doesn't know what this weird something feeling in his chest is but he's just going to ignore it until it either a) goes away or b) becomes apparent what it is. 

 

By the time he gets down into the kitchen he finds that no one else is up, which is just as well really because of the way his thoughts are buzzing around his head like busy bees. Why is Baby still talking to Zoro? Why is Zoro dumb enough to talk to her? Why hasn't Zoro told anyone about it? Better yet why is he so determined to keep Zoro's secret for him? Surely Zoro wouldn't welcome his intervention and Nami would probably skin him alive if she found out that he'd kept something like that from her.

 

Still....

 

Yeah. No, he's not telling anyone. He doesn't even really want to bring it up with Zoro either, that's an awkward and uncomfortable conversation he doesn't really want to have. It just wouldn't go well.

 

He sets about getting breakfast because that usually calms his nerves a little, or if it doesn't manage to be calming it at least distracts him enough until something else comes along to take his mind off of whatever it is that's upsetting him. In this case his distraction comes in a nice convenient Usopp shaped package. 

 

"Morning." The sharpshooter yawns, ambling into the ornate dining room/kitchen area.

 

"Morning." Sanji agrees, taking the fresh bread out of the oven and fanning at it with a tea towel to cool it down some. It'll need to get a little cooler before it's suitable to eat for breakfast. 

 

"It all smells great." Usopp hums happily, taking a big whiff of the air with his stupidly long nose. Sanji smiles at the compliment. 

 

"Don't tell him that, his head will explode with glee." Zoro's rough sleepy voice says from the doorway. Sanji looks up to see the cocky bastard in person, smirking smugly at him like some kind of goddamn cheshire cat. Like his imaginary counterpart Zoro prowls into the room looking smug and self satisfied.

 

"Zoro!" Usopp chirps, happy to see his best friend. Sanji rolls his eyes, Usopp is like a puppy sometimes when it comes to Zoro. 

 

"How did you sleep? You look happy." Usopp coos at the other man. Sanji considers the merits of hanging himself to death with a tea towel, this is so gross.

 

"What are you after? You're being sweet enough to give me cavities." Zoro says suspiciously.

 

"Well, you know how you were awesome and took all the guys to get their suits done at that amazing place that Kaya agreed to pay for no matter the cost?" Usopp rambles, looking up at Zoro with cute starry eyes in an obvious attempt to sway him to agree to whatever it is that Usopp is suggesting.

 

"Yes..." Zoro says suspiciously. 

 

"Well, can you take Sanji there? He needs to come to the wedding and he needs a groomsman's suit. Great! You're the best! Bye!" Usopp chirps and ducks out of Zoro's range. 

 

"Wait- his wedding? A groomsman?" Sanji blinks in shock. He's not even known Usopp for a month, that's a little fast! He hadn't even thought he'd be attending the wedding let alone being something as important as that! 

 

"Fucking WHAT?!" Zoro squawks and dashes out of the room after Usopp. 

 

Sanji blinks in stunned silence and goes back to the rest of breakfast, figuring that he'll hear about whatever has been decided after it has been actually agreed upon. He wonders if this was Kaya's decision or Usopp's, or perhaps they came to it mutually. Still, wow. 

 

He's setting jam and various other breakfast spreads out onto the table along with the fresh loaf of bread, cold meats and fruit when Zoro stomps sulkily back into the room. 

 

"So, suit fitting. After breakfast. I'll tell you where." Zoro grumbles and throws himself into his seat at the table with a level of drama that really wasn't strictly necessary or helpful.

 

"Really? Wow, it's a little sudden." he says in surprise that Zoro agreed to it. Perhaps Zoro just can't say no to Usopp, it looks a little that way. 

 

"I know things are dire when we're agreeing. Anyway, like I said: you, me, suit shop. You drive I'll tell you where to go." Zoro nods. 

 

"I've been told by confidential sources never to let you give me directions to anywhere." Sanji smirks, setting down some cold juice in front of Zoro, the kind he's seen the moss brain pick every morning. 

 

"What sources? Tell me so I can kill them." the guitarist glowers and drinks his drink.

 

"Well, that hardly gives me much incentive for revealing my trusted informants does it? You'll just have to live with not knowing." He retorts, sticking his tongue out. 

 

It's a good thing that his tongue is already out because just then Nami and Robin walk in wearing two of the most attractive and incidentally lowest cut tops that he's ever had the fortune of seeing. Oh boy. So much curvy gorgeous flesh on display, he could die a happy man if he could just rest his head betwixt those heavenly boobs. 

 

"You," Zoro informs him curtly, "are a moron."

 

"Shut your fucking face." Sanji snaps back, whapping Zoro with the tea towel in well deserved revenge for yanking him from his reverie about lovely bodies. Nami and Robin's that is, obviously. Not Zoro's. Something threatens to warm in his chest again and he violently shoves it down, repressing it and hoping to smother it to death. Whatever it is can just GO AWAY.

 

The others, including one sheepish Usopp, join them for breakfast. It proves to be a normal straw hat breakfast which is to say that there is lots of shouting, stabbing with forks and lots of people losing food to Luffy's pilfering hands. He swears that the boy is made of rubber from how being jabbed with forks in self-defence just seems to bounce off of him. Freak. 

 

Still, after that chaos has passed he clears up the detritus of the straw hat's feeding storm with Zoro at his side and between them they make reasonably short work of it again. He resolutely does not think about what kind of a team they make, certainly not in any kind of affirmations that it is a good one. Nope. He does not do that. At all. 

 

Zoro gives him the name of the suit place which is amusingly named "Fancy Finery" which Zoro spits out like saying the name positively hurts his soul. Sanji Googles the directions to it on his new phone and leads the poor lost little moss ball to his car. They have what passes for a pleasant ride, which is to say that few death threats are exchanged and Zoro does not get naked in the back of his car again. All is going well.

 

Upon arrival at Fancy Finery Zoro speaks to the man behind the counter who has hair in two colours, right down the middle of his head, scissors and pins stick out of his dual coloured outfit.

 

"We need another one for Usopp's party." Zoro says grudgingly.

 

"It's a little late." The guy says, quirking an eyebrow behind his purple glasses.

 

"Tell me about it." Zoro grumbles miserably, Sanji kicks him in the leg for talking about him so negatively and also talking about him to this bi-coloured freak like he isn't right THERE for crying out loud. Zoro smacks him in the chest in retaliation. 

 

"Inazuma, this is Sanji. Sanji, he'll make your suit." Zoro introduces him grudgingly.

 

"What, like... custom made and shit?" Sanji blinks in surprise.

 

"Yes, like custom made and shit." Inazuma answers flatly.

 

"Uh, sorry." Sanji apologises quickly, well aware of his tendency to run his mouth into cursing without even thinking. It was one of the things that Zeff was constantly berating him about. Stupid old man. And no, this doesn't mean that he was right.

 

"Come with me." Inazuma sighs, pulling Sanji towards the mirror.

 

The guy walks around Sanji and inspects him and Sanji finds himself glad that he wore his previously rejected outfit from last night, so he still looks pretty nice. He's not wearing a suit or anything obviously but he doesn't look like a hobo unlike some green headed people that he could mention. His eyes slide to Zoro in the mirror who is wearing jeans with worn out knees that are just ripped right through. There's even little scuffs and tears higher up and Sanji can actually see one rip near Zoro's hip that confirms that Zoro was not shitting him last night when he told him that he doesn't wear underwear. Sanji's toes curl in his shoes, he should not be privy to that information. 

 

"Well, I think I can work with this. You've got a figure for suits so it's not going to be hard to make you look good. Let me just measure you up and I'll see if I've got anything off the rack that I can use to give me a better idea about fit. I've still got a waistcoat from the line that Usopp picked anyway." Inazuma muses and wraps a tape measure around Sanji's chest. Zoro sighs behind him and stuffs his hands in his back pockets and meanders around the shop looking bored. The tape measure goes down Sanji's back and then is stretched up his legs outside and then inside in a way that makes him squeak out of the apparent lack of decency of that man. He definitely does not hear Zoro chuckle behind him at that noise. 

 

"Right, we've got enough here to work with. Obviously not the finished thing but I can work on that afterwards. Take these, go change." Inazuma orders him, throwing a pair of really nice suit trousers at Sanji's face and following it up with a shirt and tie. He gestures to some flimsy dressing room that's really no more than a curtain hanging off a circular pole above a mirror. 

 

Zoro's hand appears on his back, warm and strong, leading him to the dressing room. Sanji goes where he's directed. 

 

"I'm going to find that waistcoat. I'll be back." Inazuma shouts as Sanji pulls the curtain shut. 

 

In the slightly darker environment Sanji starts to strip. He takes his shoes off first and as he crouches down to do so he sees Zoro's shoes not too far from him, they shift as Zoro turns to look at something. The flare in his chest threatens to start burning again and his mind flicks back to the conversation with Baby/Amélie that he had this morning, and damn he really needs to settle on a name for her. Baby seems like the more real one, he's not convinced that the girl he met in the café wasn't just a fake to lure him into her trap... or something. She was right, he was being possessive of Zoro and he had no reason to be. Zoro was a grown ass adult and he could handle his own shit, he didn't need and certainly wouldn't appreciate Sanji intervening in his business without his permission. 

 

Only, he wasn't really. Zoro was still all in shreds from Baby and the last thing that Sanji needed to see, much less be party to, was all of that happening again. Still, he wasn't going to get anywhere with Zoro if he wasn't going to be honest with him. The only way their relationship worked and the only way the music with them flowed was when they were open and honest with each other, the feelings had to be real and not lied about or the music didn't work. That wouldn't keep happening if he started keeping shit from Zoro. So, honestly now, even if it was uncomfortable. 

 

"So... your ex called me this morning." Sanji remarks as casually as one can with that sort of statement. He places his other shoe on the floor and sees Zoro's feet still behind the curtain.

 

"Oh." Zoro says and Sanji isn't sure if it's a question or just a shocked little sound. He's going to treat it like it was a question.

 

"I don't know why. She was asking me all sorts of questions, including how you were after last night." Sanji explains, pulling his shirt off of his head.

 

"What did you say?" Zoro asks quietly. Shit Zoro shouldn't sound like that, quiet and weak. Sanji hates it and he wants to piss Zoro off just to get a reaction from him, just to override Baby's affect on him. Huh, yeah, possessive might be the right word there. He might as well just climb all up on the guitarist and outright hiss "mine!" at her as he hangs off of Zoro's neck. The fuck was up with him?

 

"Well, I didn't want to tell her you weren't okay obviously. Didn't want to give her that satisfaction. But I wasn't gonna say you were all peachy-keen either." he explains, unbuckling his trousers.

 

"I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone under seventy say peachy-keen before." Zoro barks out in surprised laughter and pulling the same sound from Sanji in response. Baby's reaction is thoroughly overridden, go him. 

 

"Well, anyway. I told her that you were cool, that you felt the show went awesomely. That we both did." He explains and shucks his trousers off. He's struck with a weird thought that he's talking to Zoro in just his underwear which considering as last night he was having a conversation with Zoro in a similar but non-underwear-having state he's a little concerned that this is becoming a thing with them. 

 

"I may have also said something else." He adds nervously and picks up the nice suit trousers and puts them on, they fit really really nicely. 

 

"What?" Zoro asks warily.

 

"Well she told me that you knew she would be there, on account of the fact that you're apparently still speaking to her." He says, poking his head out from the curtain to see Zoro's reaction in person. Zoro looks... guilty and slightly scared.

 

"Don't look like that, I'm not going to tell the others. Nami would probably murder you and anyone in your nearby vicinity if I happened to tell her and as that would probably include myself I'm disinclined to do so." Sanji explains flatly and watches the relief wash over Zoro's face. He ducks back into the shitty little changing booth. 

 

"Mind telling me why you're still talking to the girl that ripped your heart out though?" He questions innocently and slides into the offered shirt. 

 

"It's not really- I don't have a choice." Zoro answers hesitatingly. 

 

"Well, I told her to stop talking to you." he says airily.

 

"You what?" Zoro yelps in horror and yanks back the curtain to Sanji's changing area.

 

"OI! Give a guy some privacy, you're lucky I'm pretty much done!" Sanji snaps and shoves Zoro.

 

"You WHAT?" Zoro repeats through gritted teeth. Sanji sighs dramatically.

 

"Well, I figured that seeing as how she's ruining your life and how she doesn't seem to happy in hers either I thought it would be best if she just leaves you the hell alone. Though... I put it a little more nicely." he explains. 

 

"I know I might have overstepped the mark there, that's why I'm telling you. I don't know what came over me but I just thought about how wrecked you looked when you saw her and... I don't want to see someone make you like that again. It's awful." Sanji says quietly, looking over at Zoro.

 

The guitarist's face is an almost comical mix of emotion. He's clearly angry and upset at what Sanji's done but equally there's a sort of exasperated almost affectionate pity there too. 

 

"Just- just promise me you won't talk to her again. You seriously don't want her in your life, I speak from experience here. If she calls just don't pick up and delete her texts without reading them, block her if you can." Zoro says, rubbing his forehead in stress as Sanji does up his tie with practised ease. 

 

"Only if you do the same." Sanji challenges. 

 

"That's none of your business." Zoro retorts.

 

"Okay, sure. Maybe it's Nami's or Luffy's. I'm sure Usopp would be- mph!" Sanji is cut off by Zoro's hand clapping over his mouth and the thoroughly evil expression on the guitarist's face.

 

"Don't. Okay, you win. Just keep your yap shut and don't talk to her again. Promise me." He orders and then remove the hand from Sanji's mouth.

 

"Alright, okay. Scouts honour or whatever." Sanji agrees grudgingly.

 

"I refuse to believe that you were ever a boy scout." Zoro snorts.

 

"You got me, I lied. Cuff me up and take me to the cops." he exclaims dramatically, pressing his wrists together in mock surrender for handcuffs and holding them out to Zoro with an exaggerated theatrical sigh. Zoro snorts in laughter and shoves him. 

 

"Asshole." Sanji mutters and regardless of what anyone might accuse him, his tone is not affectionate at all okay?!

 

He smooths down the front of his shirt and admires himself in the mirror. The fit of everything is quite nice but... hm. Something isn't quite right. Inazuma returns with the promised waistcoat and Sanji slips it on. The outfit comes together a little more. Zoro hums thoughtfully, looking him in the mirror and then running his eyes down the back of Sanji's back. 

 

"Hmm, this is the same green as mine... or close?" Zoro asks, running a hand down the silk back to Sanji's waistcoat. He squeezes his eyes shut as he finally recognises what that flare is in his chest. 

 

It's affection, affection and lust. He wants Zoro. Fuuuuck. This is not good. He'd already oggled the man last night in the car but things must have developed further in Sanji's brain what with the added cocktail of his strangely protective feelings towards the other man when it came to Baby. Shit. He closes his eyes and reminds himself of all the reasons that this can't happen. 

 

One, Zoro is still destroyed from his ex, leaping into another relationship or even into bed with him would hardly be a good or productive idea. Two, his last flame was the singer of their band, Sanji doesn't want to be doubting whether Zoro would be with him or whether he just has some fixation with boning singers. He doesn't want that drama. Three, and perhaps a little more pressing, he doesn't know if Zoro even likes guys at all. So far his entire dating history that Sanji is aware of revolves around women. Or rather one specific woman. There's a chance that he could go both ways like Sanji himself but it's hardly prudent to assume that. Four, he doesn't want to make any kind of move on Zoro and then get kicked out of the band for it. That would so suck. 

 

Fine. That's that dealt with. He opens his eyes and sees Zoro and Inazuma staring at his back discussing whether green is his colour or not. 

 

"Green clashes with everything on me, blue is better." Sanji finally says, turning around. 

 

"I have some samples here..." Inazuma muses and dissappears for a moment before reappearing with a handful of colour swatches. He flicks through to the blue section and flicks through a few. 

 

"That one." Sanji says, reaching out and tugging on it. Inazuma flips to the specific ocean blue that he'd pulled on and holds it up to Sanji's face level, trying to gauge how it looks against his skin and hair.

 

"Oh." Zoro breathes, making Sanji's body shiver and his eyes immediately snap to Zoro who is looking at him wide eyed. Only then Inazuma pops in between them, blocking Sanji's view of Zoro's wide eyed expression and successfully making him want to kick him in the face for such a transgression.

 

"That certainly brings out the colour in your eyes, it goes gorgeously with you. You were made for this! I can certainly incorporate this into his suit. There, all done. Now get out of those clothes and my shop whilst I'm still inspired. You can pick it up in two days, maybe less. I'll call." Inazuma fusses, shooing Sanji back into the shitty changing room and pulling the curtains closed and obscuring Sanji's view of the still staring Zoro.

 

Well. That point number three about Zoro potentially not digging guys might be in question a little more now mightn't it? Hm. Still, he wishes he could have gotten more time to look at Zoro without Inazuma getting between them.

 

He strips off and changes back into his clothes. By the time he comes back out any hint of Zoro's previous intriguing expression is gone, goddamnit. No, wait, it's better that he doesn't know. He needs to know that he doesn't know whether or not Zoro would be attracted to him because this is not a thing that should happen. No. 

 

"Wanna go home?" Zoro offers, sounding bored, his hands in his pockets. 

 

"Sure." Sanji agrees just as nonchalantly and leaves the shop with him. 

 

"So you're Usopp's best man right?" He muses as they head back to the car.

 

"Yeah. That's why I'm saddled with last minute additions like your dumb self." Zoro says flatly. 

 

"Fuck you. Anyway, doesn't that mean you're giving a best man speech? I'm looking forward to hearing it now that I'm apparently coming." Sanji grins. Zoro doesn't say anything and Sanji notices that Zoro's gone a little pale.

 

"You're not nervous are you?" He snorts.

 

"No. Not nervous. Terrified is perhaps a better word." Zoro mutters and he really does look a little sick. 

 

"How can you be nervous? I just saw you get up on stage and play for loads of people last night without so much as a tremor of nervousness, the only reason you nearly lost it was because your ex showed up. You write songs and play them for crowds for a living. You don't even have to sing or play for this, just talk. How's that hard for you?" He frowns, looking at the petrified looking guitarist.

 

"Because he's my best friend and I'd do anything to make him happy and... and because no matter what I can't write a word to explain it. I've not written anything. I'm so fucked and I'm trying not to think about it, but thanks for screwing up that plan for me." Zoro snaps and sinks lowly into his seat in a sulk. 

 

"Well, just what were you planning on doing on the day of the wedding then if you hadn't come up with something?" he questions, starting the car up as he eyes the sulking guitarist.

 

"I was hoping that the earth might plunge into the sun and spare me the agony." the other man offers hopefully. 

 

"You're pathetic. Why don't you just write it as a song and then like... reverse engineer it into a speech?" Sanji laughs at Zoro's stupidity. 

 

When he doesn't get an answer he looks over to see Zoro staring at him like someone seeing the sun for the first time ever. 

 

"You're... you're a genius." He murmurs in awe. 

 

"You're only realising this now? You ought to worship my magnificence. Three worships a day and regular offerings ought to suffice. Chop chop." Sanji grins smugly and acts all superior. 

 

"Or I could... you know, not." Zoro says flatly, whacking him in the arm in what apparently is a playful manner. It kinda stings though, he shoves Zoro in the head in retaliation but he can only do so much after being the one charged with being in control of a motor vehicle. Thankfully though so can Zoro unless he wants them to crash and die in a giant fireball. 

 

Zoro looks a lot happier now and Sanji tries not to take any pride in that. He's really really not going to keep thinking about this. 

 

They get back to the house and Zoro escapes off to the music room, presumably to be productive about writing his best man's speech as a song and then turning it into a speech. Sanji is rather pleased at his own genius where that idea is concerned actually so he rather smugly leaves Zoro to his own devices all afternoon. Which is to say that he goes up to his room, grabs his laptop and dicks around on the internet listening to music, looking at cat pictures and reading the news. He eventually settles upon his local news website, well, really more of an indie newsblog for his city and the wider area around it. He likes it because they've only got a few reporters and they're all really into what they're reporting even if the site as a whole has a sort of irreverent sarcasm to a lot of things that Sanji really enjoys. The music guy always amuses Sanji, both because he's got real passion when reviewing shows and bands (he's responsible for a lot of Sanji's more obscure music tastes) but also because he adores ripping the shit out of celebrities in his pitiful excuse for a celebrity news column. It's kind of a guilty pleasure of his to read it, though today it attracts his attention for all the wrong reasons. 

 

"Attention grabbing singer decides to make out with new fling in public for some goddamn reason" The headline is amusing enough but the picture is thoroughly unamusing Sanji. It's taken today, only a few hours ago really and it's of Baby climbing in the lap of some douche in some bar. Sanji wonders what the hell she's doing in some bar in the middle of the day (surely a sign of someone with a drinking problem) but the next few photos show her in some kind of wanton abandon as this anonymous creep licks her neck and gropes her. 

 

Well. He supposes that she isn't contacting Zoro.

 

He opens twitter and searches Zoro's username. About two hundred people have tweeted pictures of it or links to the article, some asking if he's seen it. Loads of people exclaiming how she's a bitch or a whore, some of her fans coming in and arguing back, some people pointing out that it's mean to get in Zoro's business about it. Just the internet being the internet really. So. Zoro will know if he looks at his phone. 

 

Sanji tries to convince himself that Zoro doesn't need him checking in on him, that once more he's a grown ass adult. Sanji is already halfway down the stairs. 

 

"Zoro?" He calls when he gets to the bottom of the stairs.

 

"He's in the music room, but I wouldn't if I were you. He's already bitten my head off for trying to talk to him and only Robin is brave enough to stay though he's ignoring her." Franky calls from the other room. 

 

"Just let him cool down." Usopp shouts through. 

 

Fuck that idea in the eye. Sanji heads off down to the studio wondering why on earth he didn't just go straight there. He comes into the sound mixing half of the room first and sees Robin watching Zoro through the glass, angry guitar sounds can be heard as well as Zoro's frustrated snarl as a note goes sour. Sanji's eyebrows crawl up into his hairline, he's never heard Zoro mess up a note before at all. 

 

"He knows?" He asks Robin, knowing that she will know. 

 

"He knows." Robin says, gesturing to a slightly cracked phone next to her that Sanji dimly recognises as Zoro's. There is a dent in the wall by the door. A mature adult response then. 

 

Zoro snarls a few angry breaths in and out before starting to play a new song, this one Sanji hasn't heard before. He listens carefully, it's kind of sad and melancholy and Zoro's voice is deep and soothing in a way that doesn't speak so much of talent and range as Sanji's own does but just an overwhelming wave of emotion along with a deep bass that makes Sanji's skin break out in goosebumps.

 

Zoro gets partway through the first verse, screws up a note and begins swearing profusely and kicks his bean bag viciously while continuing to swear. 

 

"Oh no, he's trying to write that song again." Robin sighs softly, resting her beautiful face in the palm of her hand and watching Zoro sadly. 

 

"He's been writing today?" Sanji asks, his interest thoroughly piqued. 

 

"No, he's been trying to write this song ever since Baby broke up with him. He tries whenever he's miserable and it just makes him worse. He's never happy with it and he's never finished it. It's not a good sign." Robin says mournfully. 

 

Zoro starts up again, low notes on his guitar reverberating through Sanji's chest. He's so sad and so talented. He wants Zoro to get this toxic thing out from inside him and turn it into something beautiful like he always does, then maybe he'll feel better. His feet pull him to the door of the studio proper where Zoro is playing, it's open and Zoro's eyes are screwed shut as he plays. Sanji watches and listens, enraptured. The guitar is slow and sorrowful and Zoro's face is a calm sort of agony.

 

_"It was a beautiful letdown,_

_When I crashed and burned,_

_When I found myself alone unknown and hurt,"_

 

Sanji starts walking into the room. He's used to the energy Zoro has when he plays and this feels wrong. Zoro feels like he's spinning off kilter somehow, like a child's spinning top wobbling and about to fall. If he closes his eyes he can almost see the spinning of Zoro's creative energy as it's about to crash in and destroy itself. He walks towards the unseeing guitarist and settles himself into his place by his side on the other side of his mic. Zoro continues to sing his sad song.

 

_"It was a beautiful letdown,_

_The day I knew,_

_That all the riches this world had to offer me,_

_Would never do,"_

 

Zoro's face contorts slightly, his mouth twisting into some snarl of agony and Sanji feels him spin further out of control. He breathes in Zoro's melody and tries to centre himself in this song that he doesn't know. 

 

_"In a world full of bitter pain and bitter doubts,_

_I was trying so hard to fit in, fit in,_

_Until I found out,_

_I don't belong here,"_

 

Sanji has to step in, he has to balance out Zoro's crazed depressive energy or else this whole song will crash and burn. He opens his mouth on reflex and sings Zoro's last line back to him, an echo of Zoro's words but delivered with perhaps a little more conviction and he hopes, some hope.

 

 _"I don't belong"_ He echoes. Zoro's eyes snap open and look at him. The guitarist continues singing but Sanji suspects that it's out of a trained reflex not to drop a performance if he can help it. 

 

 _"I don’t belong here,”_ Zoro says staring at him in shock.

 

“ _I don’t belong.”_ Sanji echoes again, trying to balance out his energy. Zoro is still staring at him in surprise but his mouth keeps moving.

 

“ _I will carry a cross and a song where I don't belong,_

_I don't belong,"_

 

This time when Sanji hears him starting to sing that line about not belonging again he echoes it at the same time. He uses his higher pitch to pull Zoro's voice and the energy of the song up into something higher, something fiercer and secure than despondent and desperate. Zoro's voice follows him out of habit, used as the two of them are now to matching each other. Zoro's eyes are on him, burning into his skin and he drags out the guitar notes for a few anxious silent beats where Sanji wonders if yet again he's overstepped some boundary. Until Zoro leans forward and sings once more, never once breaking the eye contact that has Sanji pinned to the floor but his words are more energetic, the guitar matching them and Zoro feels stable again. 

 

_"It was a beautiful letdown,_

_When you found me here,_

_Yeah for once in a rare blue moon I see everything clear,_

_I'll be a beautiful letdown,_

_That's what I'll forever be,_

_And though it may cost my soul,_

_I'll sing for free,"_

 

The end of that verse sees Zoro throw his head back, the last note seeming to rip from somewhere in his chest and it's so emotionally powerful that Sanji just doesn't know what to do with himself. He's struck by that same intense feeling that he was at their gig, that he's never truly been alive until now. That all he was doing before was merely existing and now, here with Zoro, he's really alive. Zoro’s words sound perfect and real, half promise and half soul rendering confession and Sanji couldn’t want to be anywhere else on the entire planet but right here right now. 

 

 

“ _We're still chasing our tails and the rising sun,_

_And our dark water planet's,_

_Still spinning in a race,_

_Where no one wins and no one's won,”_

 

“ _See, I don't belong here,”_ Zoro sings to Sanji as if explaining it.

 

“ _I don't belong here.”_ Sanji sings in agreement, settling his tone in a mirror to Zoro’s and stretching it out into Zoro’s next words like they’re melding into one.

 

“ _Well, I don’t belong here.”_ Zoro continues and Sanji sings his line again. 

 

“ _I will carry a cross and a song where I don't belong,_

_I don't belong,_

_I don't belong here,_

_I don't belong here,_

_I’m gonna set sight and set sail,_

_For the kingdom come,_

_Your kingdom come,”_

 

Every time Zoro sings that he doesn’t belong Sanji repeats the words with more feeling, as if he can convince Zoro that he does, he really really does. 

 

“ _Won't you let me down yeah,_

_Let my foolish pride,_

_Forever let me down,”_

 

Zoro’s voice is becoming fierce and almost angry, a demand. Sanji doesn’t know if Zoro is directing it at him, like he’s begging Sanji to let him down. 

 

The idea rockets around Sanji’s brain and sticks. Is that why Zoro is strange with him sometimes, like if he predicts that Sanji will hurt him then he can’t really? As if he thinks that Sanji has to turn and hurt him just like Baby did. 

 

Zoro’s voice is fierce and almost begging, sounding like he just wants Sanji to get it over. Sanji doesn’t know if he’s reading the wrong thing into this song or not but he locks eyes with Zoro and shakes his head. No. He won’t let Zoro down. 

 

Zoro’s guitar picks into something almost whimsical and Zoro tilts his head back and laughs a smile bursting over his face and though it looks a little ragged around the edges it’s real. Zoro tilts his head back down to him and grins at he sings, the tune much more upbeat now.

 

“ _Easy living, not much like the name,_

_Easy dying, you look just about the same,_

_Won't you please take me off your list,_

_Easy living please come on and let me down,”_

 

Zoro is circling him as he sings, Sanji having long lost the opportunity to sing along as he’s no way of predicting what Zoro will sing next. Zoro’s starting to feel off kilter again, manic instead of depressed. He snags Zoro’s arm and pulls him in, tries to convey with his touch that he’s not going anywhere. 

 

The guitar notes die in the air, ringing out from the instrument as Zoro’s hand falls from the strings. For a moment Sanji thinks he’s ruined it and broken the song until Zoro leans in, his forehead almost touching Sanji’s and sings at him the guitar entirely ignored. His voice is quiet and real. It feels like it’s just for Sanji and the burning thing in his chest is threatening to cook him from the inside out. 

 

“ _We are a beautiful letdown,_

_Painfully uncool,_

_The church of the dropouts,_

_The losers, the sinners, the failures and the fools.”_

 

Zoro’s grin is wry, painful, sad, slightly hopeful but entirely honest and real. Sanji can’t repress the thought that he’s beautiful and ignores it for a second, he can consider how completely fucked he is later. 

 

“ _Oh what a beautiful letdown,_

_Are we salt in the wound,_

_Hey, let us sing one true tune,_

_Yeah!”_

 

Zoro starts the guitar up again, pulling back from him and yelling that last yeah into the room and making Sanji’s lungs ache with the volume. Sanji knows that he’s supposed to start singing again and true enough Zoro sings what he can sing back to him.

 

“ _I don't belong here,_

_No, I don't belong here,_

_I don't belong here,_

_Feels like I don't belong here,_

_Yeah, yeah don’t belong here,_

_It goes like ‘I don’t belong here’,_

_I don't belong here,_

_No, I don't belong,”_

 

That last note gets stretched out into something almost like a yell. Suddenly Zoro turns his eyes and that volume on him with a demand.

 

“ _Won’t you let me down?”_ He demands with a yell but Sanji just shakes his head and sings back that he doesn’t belong, acting like Zoro was singing the last verse instead of this demand to perhaps break his heart now instead of later. 

 

“ _Come on and let me down,_

_You always let me down,_

_So glad that I'm let down,_

_Yeah,_

_Come on and let me down,_

‘ _Cause I don't belong here,_

_Please,_

_Won't you let me down?”_

 

The guitar music goes on for a second or two before Zoro just lets the notes hang in the air. They’re both out of breath and the eye contact is still glued steady.

 

“Oh my god.” A voice from the door says, startling them both out of it. They look around to the door and see the entire fucking band congregated there staring at them like they’ve both grown a second head each or something. Sanji almost checks. 

 

“You actually… you actually wrote it!” Nami squeaks, throwing herself at Zoro and wrapping her arms around his neck and knocking the breath out of him with a slight ‘oof’. 

 

“You actually made him write it.” Usopp says instead, staring at Sanji with something verging on suspicion. 

 

“I didn’t do anything.” He shrugs.

 

“Yes you did.” Zoro contradicts.

 

“Did not.” Sanji counters out of habit.

 

“Zoro’s never managed to write past the first verse and you got him through the whole song entirely new.” Franky breathes in wonder.

 

“Fuck off, no way was Zoro writing that on the fly.” He contradicts with a wrinkle of his nose.

 

“I was.” Zoro answers, sounding kind of hazy. Sanji looks over at him and he’s got that blissed out look that he saw on Zoro before when he came home. 

 

“Get lost. No one can write and sing and play all at once, each of the three on its own maybe but not all three at once. You can’t do that.” Sanji frowns.

 

“He can, he’s the only person I know that can. And you managed to get him to do all three at once for the first time in a year.” Luffy explains, bright eyed and looking at Zoro with pride in his eyes.

 

“I thought I’d lost it. Thought I could never do that again.” Zoro actually giggles at that, the sound escaping his mouth before he can turn it into an amused laugh. 

 

“Okay, you’re kind of high on being able to do that again for the first time in forever. How about you give me Wado before you break her, okay, good.” Usopp clucks at Zoro and pulls the guitar from his shoulders.

 

Zoro’s balance shifts towards him and Zoro’s big heavy head clunks onto Sanji’s shoulder. 

 

“Thank you.” Zoro breathes into Sanji’s skin, making him shiver and wrap his arms around Zoro instinctively. 

 

“Looks like we got more than just a singer, looks like we got Zoro a genuine muse right here.” Brook says softly and Zoro laughs with quiet delight into Sanji’s shoulder. 

 

A muse? He was a muse? What… what was that supposed to mean? Zoro shudders against him, wrung out from emotion, singing and the high of creating. Sanji thinks that selfishly if it means that he gets this then he’s okay with that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song for this is Beautiful Letdown by switch foot


	7. Chapter 7

'The full cleaned up version of this will be up for sale soon, but this is Zoro writing this on the fly with Sanji! Looks like Zoro found his first muse!' 

 

'Ohmygod!1 they're so cuuute!'

'Can't wait to hear the full version of this, new album?'

'I thought that blonde guy was the singer now, whys Zoro singing?'

'I like Sanji'

‘His MUSE?!!! OMG!!!’

'Baby was better'

'BABY WAS NOT BETTER! SHE WAS EVILLLL!'

'Sanji's way nicer'

'Is there something going on between these two? THought they hated each other but they look all over each other here'

'Look at the way Sanji grabs him 4:26!! They're real cute together, Zoro has a thing for singers huh?' 

'Don't make this all gay. Goddamn fangirls'

'^fuck that guy'

'lol'

 

Sanji squints and tears his eyes away from the comments. Apparently the studio downstairs was filmed as well as recorded and Nami had uploaded a video of their song yesterday. It's already got thousands and thousands of hits. He learns his first lesson of fame, never read youtube comments. Still, he skips ahead to 4:27 and sees that he did indeed grab Zoro's shirt and pull the other man closer to him when he was getting a little too manic for his own good. 

 

He chews his lip and watches the video again one more time. It still gives him goosebumps to hear Zoro singing that song, but he can't entirely argue with all of the commentators, the two of them look really... close. Romantically so almost. He tries to convince himself that it doesn't mean anything, that Zoro was just in the zone of writing, but it's hard to do. Despite all of his previous mental reassurance that he shouldn't be even entertaining the idea that he and Zoro could be anything more than friends he can't help but sort of want Zoro to mean that. 

 

What can he say? He's a romantic. 

 

He wonders if people reading that sort of thing into his and Zoro's strange relationship will harm or help his career. He knows that with big bands there's always fan speculation and the fantasies of said fans, it's just a part of the deal. Still, in the times that he'd allowed himself to imagine being in a band when he worked for Zeff he'd imagined the press hounding him about his numerous love affairs with gorgeous movie starlets or his female band mates. He'd never imagined someone like Zoro. 

 

He decides to give up and closes down his laptop. He ought to track said marimo down and ask him if he's heard about this suit that he's supposed to be wearing to the wedding, he's a little worried that it might not fit and they won't have time to get it fixed, the last thing he wants is to show up at Usopp's wedding looking like some hobo wearing an ill fitting suit. It’s been four days since their visit to the suit shop and there’s only five days left until Usopp’s wedding. 

 

He heads out of his bedroom and turns to go down the stairs, he's learnt by now that if he's looking for Zoro the easiest way to find him is to start at the studio and work outwards. Zoro practices more than any of them and can routinely be found playing his guitars until his fingers go raw, usually someone has to dissuade him from continuing then.

 

"Get in here!" 

 

That's all the warning that Sanji gets before he's yanked backwards by his shirt collar and into Zoro's bedroom.

 

"GAH! HEY!" He yelps, staggering to maintain his balance as Zoro slams the door behind him.

 

"I need your help." Zoro says solemnly and shoves Sanji backwards onto the guitarist's bed.

 

"What?!" Sanji squeaks in shock, looking up at Zoro looming over him. This- this is completely out of the blue! He's not ready for this! What the hell?!

 

"I need to write my best man's speech, it's in five days and I've got nothing! You're gotta help me." Zoro insists, falling on the bed next to Sanji and pathetically shoving a pad of scribbled up paper at Sanji. 

 

Sanji gets hold of his runaway pulse and flicks through the notepad, it's full of speech beginnings and scribbled out lines. The further through the book Sanji gets the more frustrated the writing on the paper becomes and the deeper the crossings out become. 

 

"Been a little frustrated have we?" He teases, poking Zoro in the side with the notepad. He flicks through to the most recent page and sees a few hesitant verses sketched out only to be similarly scrawled out. 

 

"I tried writing it as a song and it didn't help at all. Your genius idea was a failure." Zoro accuses weakly, rolling onto his back and looking up at Sanji from the bed.

 

"Or maybe you're just the failure, don't blame my brilliant ideas." he teases, smacking Zoro lightly on his flat stomach with the notepad.

 

"Yeah, that was the conclusion that I was coming to as well." the guitarist grumbles unhappily, shooting Sanji a pathetic look. 

 

"So that explains my impromptu kidnapping then." he says with a smile. 

 

"Stop wasting your energy being smug and start helping me." the guitarist orders, poking him in the side.

 

Sanji looks over Zoro's notes a little more thoroughly, resting the pad on Zoro's ribs. The other man seems to be still trying to write the lyrics like a speech, it's... toe curlingly bad in fact. No wonder he scrawled it out. He can't help but wonder if Zoro has dragged him in here on account of his apparently unofficial position as Zoro's muse. Zoro's not confirmed or denied either way but all through yesterday after Zoro's spontaneous song writing the rest of the band were giving them both sneaky smiles and completely conspicuous stares. 

 

"Where's your guitar?" He asks, looking up from the pad. 

 

Zoro makes a triumphant noise and pulls his most treasured white acoustic up off of the floor and sits up on the bed facing Sanji with his guitar sat easily in his arms. He strums a few chords absently and Sanji smiles and closes his eyes as the rich sound washes over him. 

 

"I think I like that one the best. I mean I know the music that we play mostly is electric but that guitar always sounds so cool, really... warm I guess. If that makes sense?" He adds, opening his eyes self consciously. 

 

"She's my favourite. She was my sister's." Zoro explains with a smile and strums the strings again, a warm happy sound coming from the instrument. 

 

"Well, maybe you should play this song with her then. I mean, you wanna have this song as happy as possible right? It's all about how Usopp is your best friend I guess." He says as Zoro runs through a scale. 

 

"If you think it'll help then sure, but does it matter if we're translating it back to a speech afterwards?" Zoro questions, looking up at him.

 

"If it changes how you play and write then yeah it does."

 

He says bossily. He doesn't really have any idea what being a muse involves or if Zoro actually thinks of him like that or if it's just the others that have decided that's what he is. 

 

It's all so confusing. Zoro's watching him though so he should probably say something helpful.

 

"Usopp's a lucky bastard, getting to marry someone like Kaya." Sanji pouts, in lieu of saying anything helpful.

 

"Actually... Kaya is the one who's lucky." Zoro comments with a smile and plucks out a few soft notes with idle fingers. 

 

"How so? Kaya's so pretty and smart." Sanji sighs wistfully, he wishes that he had that. 

 

"Yeah, but Usopp would do anything for her. I mean it. He nearly got arrested as a kid for her, he saved her life too." Zoro answers him, surprising Sanji.

 

"Saved her life?" He asks in shock. 

 

"Mmm. Her parents died when she was young and she got really sick, depression and some kind of rare sickness, she's better now of course but at the time she was really weak. Physically speaking. But Usopp would sneak off and go and see her whenever he could, he'd tell her stories and make her laugh and you've got to understand that this was the kid who was so chicken shit scared of getting caught by the staff at our orphanage that he'd never break a single rule. But for her... he would." Zoro smiles softly, leaning back on the bed and strumming.

 

"If it meant making her happy he'd do anything." the guitarist adds. 

 

"That's... pretty sweet actually. When did they meet?" Sanji questions, subtly making notes from what Zoro is saying. Scrawling 'anything for her' on the paper. 

 

"When they were about ten, it's the kind of stuff you get in fairytales you know?" the other man smiles gently.

 

"Like the kind of tales that Usopp tells you mean?" He sniggers. They're routinely regaled over meals of lies of things that Usopp has done in his life, all entirely fake of course. 

 

"I like his lies, my favourite one was about the face that he's got a huge scar on his chest from a polar bear." the other man laughs brightly.

 

"Oh and then when Chopper looked for it he said that a witch cursed him to make it invisible so no one would believe him!" Sanji laughs loudly, that was a pretty funny lie, even he had to admit that. 

 

"So how did he save her life then?" he questions, realising that Zoro hasn't explained that rather surprising part of his story. Zoro sits up on his bed again and grins at Sanji around the neck of his guitar, settling it upright in his crossed legs. 

 

"Well, Kaya had this guardian, Kuro. Real mean bastard, always hated Usopp, he never liked the way that Usopp kept her out of her depression when he could and the way he came to see her all the time. He kept calling Usopp a liar and whilst that's... true I suppose, Usopp would never lie to hurt anyone. He does it because he thinks that he's not interesting enough or because he's scared, or he does it to make people happy. He's not malicious with it." Zoro begins. Sanji nods in agreement. The keyboard player might tell some tall stories but he'd had plenty of opportunities to lie to Sanji about Zoro's past or about his role in the band or... well... anything really. But the long nosed musician had been nothing but truthful with him in that respect. 

 

"Turns out that the bastard wanted to force Kaya to write him into her will and then kill her, and Usopp was in her way. You may have noticed that Kaya has more money than god, she gave us this house for example." Zoro gestures to the room around them.

 

"Mansion you mean." Sanji snorts, though he's hardly complaining.

 

"Well, you see what I mean." Zoro shrugs.

 

"But Usopp cottoned onto this plan, but when he tried to tell people no one believed him, even Kaya didn't at first. Kuro tried to kill Usopp for interfering but between he and I we managed to get enough incriminating evidence to get the cops to arrest him and protect Kaya in one. Though I mostly just did what I was told, Usopp was the brains of the operation." the guitarist admits honestly. 

 

"Well, I'd hate to think what would have happened if it'd been the other way around. Still, it's pretty brave for someone who practically pisses his pants in fear if the toaster pops too loudly." he snickers, remembering that happening just that very morning. 

 

"Exactly, but he'd only ever be that brave for her. She brings out something amazing in him, he becomes the best version of himself for her. That's why she's so lucky to have him, how many real people get someone that dedicated just to them? Don't get me wrong Kaya is great, I love her like family but Usopp would do anything for her, anything in the world." Zoro smiles warmly. 

 

"You're kind of sappy about your best friend you know, I think I really believe Usopp. When I first got here and you were a complete jerk face all the time he was the one who really tried to convince me that you were like this inside. I kind of thought he was lying when he said you were all soft and fuzzy deep down." he admits, smirking at Zoro. 

 

"Speech writing problem solved, the wedding's off as I'm about to murder Usopp. Soft and fuzzy! What the fuck?!" the guitarist snarls all hostile and offended in a way that makes Sanji positively crack up laughing.

 

"Oi, it's not funny, bastard." Zoro grouses, jabbing Sanji in the side with a foot.

 

"Oh no, it's hilariously funny. I wonder if Usopp would agree to fight you for Kaya's sake, if you say he'd do anything." Sanji snickers to himself, rolling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling with a smile. 

 

"I'd never hurt Usopp, it was just a joke." Zoro mutters, suddenly sounding serious. Sanji blinks in surprise and looks up at Zoro who is looking suddenly kind of morbid. 

 

"As was that. Anyway, do you think he would?" he asks curiously.

 

"I guess, but I wouldn't do that." the guitarist answers firmly. 

 

"Hm... does Kaya know that Usopp would do anything for her? Even if it scared the piss outta him?" Sanji muses thoughtfully.

 

"I hope so." the other man huffs. 

 

"Well, why don't you make sure? Write your song about that. Why don't we tell her that he'd do any lie that he's said if it was for her?" Sanji suggests, knocking against Zoro's knee with the notepad. 

 

Zoro stares at him wide eyed, his mouth slightly open. 

 

"You're... how do you do that? Gimme that!" Zoro squeaks, grabbing the notepad and furiously scribbling down words. 

 

Zoro takes a moment to slide his guitar onto the bed by Sanji's side and then begins to scrawl in earnest onto the pad, all his writer's block apparently gone. Sanji smirks at a job well done and settles his hands over his stomach, letting his eyes flutter closed. If Zoro needs him he'll say.

 

Between the two of them they end up writing down every lie that they can remember Usopp telling and eventually they have enough to start working the whole thing into a song, though it's hard without a guitar tune. Sanji knows enough music theory though for the two of them to be able to get a rough time signature to the piece before they work on the actual melody and chords. That's more Zoro's job than his.

 

Until then, he's going to stay right here. 

 

"I don't have a line that fits here." Zoro bitches, scratching his hair in frustration. This song seems particularly difficult to write and Sanji suspects that it's because Zoro's putting too much pressure on himself to be perfect and it's stifling his flow. Still Sanji doesn't mind, it's nice getting to see Zoro's creative process up close. 

 

"So... I'm not sure about this line." Zoro hums thoughtfully, tapping a pen against his lower lip. 

 

"That really helps. I can't see what one you mean." Sanji snorts, he's sprawled on his back with his eyes shut. By now Zoro is sat up and Sanji's head is in his lap.

 

"I just can't see where to go with it. I might cut it." The guitarist continues as if he hadn't heard Sanji.

 

"Tell me what line it is!" He demands frustratedly.

 

 _"I have walked a million miles in a hundred pairs of shoes, in search of some universal truth."_ Zoro read out flatly. 

 

"Oh yeah, I liked that one. Where Usopp was pretending that he'd been on some vision quest for musical power or some bullshit in an effort to convince Chopper that he didn't need a music degree." Sanji chuckles to himself. 

 

"But it doesn't exactly relate to Kaya does it?" Zoro reasons. 

 

Sanji closes his eyes and thinks, if Usopp did do such a thing, which obviously he didn't... what could he give up from it for Kaya? He's got an image of the river Lethe in Greek mythology, where you could drink to forget but that's an obscure reference and doesn't directly relate either. Damn, it's a hard one. 

 

"I'll take it out." Zoro grumbles unhappily. 

 

"No, no, give me a moment. He needs to like... get a thing and give it up for her. Knowledge written down or something." He thinks out loud. 

 

Both of them stay mute for a moment before Zoro lets out a frustrated groan and falls over onto his side. 

 

"This isn't working any more." He pouts. 

 

"You're over thinking it that's why, you're stressing about how it has to be perfect and disrupting your natural... I don't know... rhythm or something!" He argues, sitting up and jabbing the morose guitarist in the leg. 

 

"Now, quit your bitching and get your guitar. Maybe if you work out exactly what kind of music you're gonna put to this you can work out the words. Get!" He orders, snapping his fingers and gesturing to the guitar.

 

"You're not the boss of me!" Zoro argues back, but gets his guitar all the same. 

 

The guitarist sits up with his instrument and settles in place with it. He stares at it in his hands for a moment and looks blank. 

 

"I don't know what to do." He mumbles eventually.

 

"Well I'm not a guitarist, I don't know! Why don't you just start out with something simple? Something where it's just chords and rhythm or something and work up from there? You can always tweak it and make it more complicated but you're never going to get anything done by staring at it hopelessly like that!" He sighs in exasperation. Zoro really is hopeless right now, he must be so worked up about Usopp's wedding.

 

Zoro starts playing. It's a simple little melody, just like Sanji asked for. Just strumming through a loose selection of chords. It doesn’t quite sound country but it does sound a little love ballad like, which pretty much fits with it. 

 

Zoro keeps the melody repeating and Sanji closes his eyes and lets the melody and theme of the song settle in as he tries to think. He drums a lazy beat out on his thigh as Zoro strums away. He sings and tries to keep the tone relatively stable, almost conversational, it’s meant to be a speech eventually anyway. 

 

“ _I have walked a million miles in a hundred pairs of shoes,_

_In search of some universal truth…_

_Well… a deity just came to me and handed me a scroll to read-”_ He cuts himself off, not knowing where to go next and well aware that nothing he just said rhymed. He’s red and about to tell Zoro to ignore what he just blurted out when Zoro continues for him.

 

“ _And I will gladly pass it on to you,_

_Anything for you,_

_All of this is true,_

_But the best story that I could ever tell,_

_Is the one where I am growing old with you.”_ Zoro sings softly, his eyes shut.

 

“That’s perfect!” Sanji shouts, sitting up excitedly. 

 

“You think so?” 

 

“Yeah!” He agrees enthusiastically

 

“Well, okay.” Zoro mumbles and scribbles down their new lines. 

 

The two of them work at the song for a while until Zoro has to go to work, it's his last day of work before he's got time off for before the wedding. Sanji would think that it was crazy to have that kind of time off if he wasn't well aware that Zoro was the emergency go to person for Usopp and Kaya to fix problems and last minute hitches. Zoro apparently went along and either reasoned with people or scared them into doing what he wanted. 

 

"Oh hey, I'd actually been looking for you before you yanked me in here." Sanji says, leafing through the notebook pages that they've written on.

 

"What for?" Zoro asks, pulling his big boots on and lacing them up. 

 

"To ask you about that suit, is it ready yet?" He questions, looking up at the other man from his place still sprawled on Zoro's bed cover.

 

"I'll call them when I'm at work, find out and let you know. It's not like him to keep people waiting." Zoro agrees, standing up with a clomp of his boots. 

 

Zoro shepherds him out of the room and Sanji follows him down the stairs, he keeps Zoro back though, offering him a lift and making him dinner to take to work. He knows that Zoro can eat at work but he really wants the marimo eating more than sandwiches for dinner. He drives Zoro into town and drops him outside the back of his building. It's becoming an awfully strong habit considering how much Zoro hated him so recently. On the way back he finds that he's got their new song stuck in his head, not the one for Usopp's wedding but the one that Zoro had been trying to write for ages and only managed with him. Zoro had named it 'Beautiful Letdown'. 

 

He sings it the whole time while he cooks dinner and only manages to refrain from humming it by getting involved in conversation around the table. He's not getting obsessed, that's a stupid accusation. Who would say something like that? 

 

Zoro's shift finishes late and as Sanji is going to bed he gets a text from Zoro. 

 

'Called suit guy, pick it up tomorrow. - Z'

 

Sanji texts back right away.

 

'Kk. Need a ride? It's dark.'

 

'Nah. Hanging out with Johnny from work.'

 

Sanji shrugs and settles into bed with a yawn. He's got a different song stuck in his head now, he's got the song that the two of them were working on earlier. He tries to ignore it and go to sleep but the lines and ideas are still rolling around his head. 

 

"Fuck it." He mutters, getting up and walking across the hall to Zoro's bedroom. Ordinarily he wouldn't do this as Zoro's pretty protective of his space, but Zoro's not here and all he wants is the notebook that they were working with earlier. He walks in, still feeling a little guilty, though it's not like Zoro's going to leap out from behind the furniture and catch him or anything. He spots that Zoro's left the hallway window wide open and so he closes it on the way back to his room, shutting Zoro's bedroom door after him so that the other man would never need to know he was there. 

 

He settles back into bed and pulls a blue ballpoint out of his bedside table. He reads over what they've already worked on, which amounts to about half a song. He hums Zoro's simple, slightly folksy and romantic guitar music to himself whilst he reads.

 

He looks through their previous brainstorming of all of Usopp's lies and hesitantly settles on one. He flips to a new page and tries to write down a potential verse or line for that. He resists the temptation to scribble it out immediately, he's not a songwriter, that's Zoro! His line sucks and doesn't even fit in with the beat of the rest of the song. 

 

He tries to imagine that Zoro is there with him, which is a little odd as he's in bed, but he goes with it. He manages to cut a few words out with some careful rewording and then he's able to make it fit. Agonisingly slowly he manages to pull a few more lines out of himself but it's hard because he doesn't know Usopp or much less Kaya anywhere near as well as Zoro does. But perhaps Zoro can turn his awkward lines into something resembling real music. 

 

He's only got about three verses done when his eyes feel groggy enough to make him check the time, he's shocked to see that two hours have gone by and it's two in the morning! He rubs his tired eyes and drops the notepad onto his bedside table, resolving to show his work to Zoro tomorrow and hope that the other man would take it well. He snuggles into the pillow, turns off the light and drifts into an easy sleep.

 

Sanji startles awake, not quite sure what it was that woke him. He peers blearily around the dark of his room and gropes around in the blackness for his phone, he bats at it, causing the time to light up on the screen. It's two thirty in the morning. What woke him?

 

He grumbles and rubs at his eyes, fully intent on drifting back into sleep until he hears a thump outside of his room. 

 

His body filling with adrenaline he sits up out of bed and gets to his feet as silently as he possibly can. He creeps over to the door and hears Zoro's bedroom door open and shut. He opens his door silently and peers out into the hallway. The big window at the top of the hall is wide open, the curtains billowing in with the night breeze. That certainly was shut when he went to bed. He gets a little closer to it and sees a big boot print on the windowsill and hand prints on the outside of the glass, it's then that he realises just how close that big tree by the house is to the window, a good climber could easily climb that and get into this window. 

 

Are they being burgled?!

 

A clatter from inside Zoro's room makes Sanji jump and, knowing full well that the guitarist might bite his head off, he opens Zoro's bedroom door. The other man is nowhere to be seen, but his bedside light is on and casting a dim orange glow across the room. Sanji's foot catches on some clothes strewn on Zoro's floor, not unusual, Zoro wasn't exactly fastidiously tidy, but this shirt had blood splattered all over the front. Sanji's heartbeat is now firmly in the terrified category.

 

"Zoro?" He calls out, his voice high with worry. He moves further into the room to investigate and sees light spilling out of their shared bathroom. He sneaks towards it wary of any intruder. 

 

"Zoro?" He repeats, opening the door slowly, but no one replies or attacks him with a knife or anything. 

 

He comes into the bathroom to find Zoro leaning over their sink, bare chested, his bloody shirt discarded before. 

 

"Go abay." Zoro says thickly, his voice sounding weird. 

 

"Zoro, are you okay? The window was open and there was blood, what happened?" Sanji asks, reaching out to touch Zoro's shoulder. 

 

"Leab me alode!" Zoro snarls thickly, lashing out.

 

"ZORO!" He gasps in horror. As Zoro turned to shove him away Sanji got a good look at Zoro's face, blood is trickling from his nose, though it looks like earlier it was positively streaming if the bloodstains on his skin are anything to go by. It looks like he got hit in the face by a baseball bat or something!

 

"What happened to you?" He asks in fear.

 

"I god punched, obviously. Dink my nobe migd be broken." Zoro slurs miserably.

 

"Shit!" Sanji exclaims and goes quickly to the airing cupboard and pulls out a clean face towel. He pushes Zoro gently onto the edge of the bathtub so that he can get to the tap. He dampens the cloth and turns to Zoro with it. 

 

"Hold still." He orders, touching Zoro's chin lightly and rubbing the face towel over Zoro's cheek. The blood comes with it easily, making him look a little less like a car crash victim. 

 

"Wad are you doing?" the guitarist asks weakly, wincing as Sanji touches the more sensitive skin by Zoro's nose. 

 

"Helping you obviously. Shut your yap or I'm gonna get this in your mouth by mistake." He snaps and continues cleaning the other man up. 

 

After a little cleaning he gets most of the blood off, there are a few scratches on Zoro's cheek and one or two high up on his shoulder but Sanji can't identify what they're from. More concerning is that Zoro's nose is split across the bridge and swollen rather painfully. He can't get too close to it without Zoro flinching away, though he's being remarkably passive considering. 

 

"Okay... let's see if that's broken." He says softly and touches Zoro's nose, the other man instantly pulls away. 

 

"Stop id." Zoro grumbles, shoving him back. 

 

"Well do it yourself then! Feel it and tell me if it sounds crunchy or if it's moving more than it should or if it's not straight." He sighs exasperated and turns to wash the wash cloth out in the sink. He sees Zoro move to gingerly touch his own nose but doesn't stare at the other man. 

 

"I don' know, 's swelled up." Zoro sniffles, promptly starting another nosebleed. 

 

"Oh god, here, hold this until the bleeding stops again. Don't sniff. I'm gonna clean out these scratches." Sanji announces, shoving the clean wash cloth into Zoro's hands and opening up the rather well stocked medicine cabinet to pull out cotton swabs and alcohol. He dips one in and settles on the rim of the bath by Zoro with some packaged plasters on his knee. The scratches don't seem to be too deep but they're full of black stuff, Sanji doesn't know what it is but it seems flaky and shiny, like polish or paint perhaps? Maybe Zoro got shoved into some railings or a gate.

 

"What happened? How did you get punched in the face?" He questions, trying to distract the other man as he swabs out the wound and covers it up with a sticking plaster. 

 

"You mean what did I do?" Zoro asks, pulling the cloth away, his voice sounding somewhat clearer now. Sanji's loathe to consider more blood to be a good thing but it seems like Zoro needed that out of his nose. 

 

"No, I meant what happened. Do you know the person that punched you or was it some stranger? Either way you should go to the cops. Oh shit, I probably should have taken a picture of you for evidence before I started this. Crap, never mind." He says shaking his head, it was too late for that now. 

 

"I didn't do anything. Just walked in an-" Zoro punches the air. 

 

"Someone just hit you in the face for no reason at all? What a psycho. You should seriously go to the cops." he advises sagely. 

 

"I'll pass." the other man mutters. 

 

Sanji shrugs, he supposes that it's Zoro's choice but in fairness there's not a lot of evidence and if there wasn't any security cameras where it happened then it's Zoro's word against whatever guy did this to him. Still, it makes Sanji really mad to see him hurt like this. 

 

"Why're you doin' dis?" Zoro asks through the wash cloth that he's pressed back against his face. 

 

"You gedding off on my pain or whad?" He accuses through the wash cloth.

 

"Why on earth would I get off from hurting you? You're my friend, the last thing I want to see is you in pain." Sanji balks in shock. Zoro regards him warily through his good eye which is starting to swell a little itself.

 

"Suppose." He mumbles in something that might pass for apologetic if Sanji was desperate enough to hear that kind of thing, which he is.

 

"Go open the coffee box by my desk." Zoro orders him, standing up and dropping the thoroughly blood soaked face cloth in the sink and standing before the mirrored medicine cabinet to get a good look at the damage.

 

Sanji, for once, does as he's told. He goes back into Zoro's room and spots the box of coffee. He crouches down to pull the top of it off but it won't open. Confused he kneels down and looks at it, there's a seam running along the front side of it that shouldn't be there and also now that he's this close he can hear some strange whirring noise coming from within. Curiously he puts his fingernails in the seam and levers it open, this time the front opens smoothly, hinging on its far edge like a door.

 

To Sanji's surprise he discovers that it's a mini freezer with a fake covering. He didn’t even know that you could get mini freezers, mini fridges sure, but not this. He looks inside and sees a secret stash of frozen ice pops, sensible if one intends to keep the fair share from Luffy, and two clear bags filled with water. He figures that it’s the water bags that Zoro sent him in here for rather than an emergency need for frozen treats.

 

He picks it up in confusion and looks at it, it can’t be water filling this bag or else it surely would be frozen. It feels incredibly cold though and it occurs that it might be useful for putting on Zoro’s busted nose, which was probably why the guitarist sent him for it in the first place. He shuts the mini freezer and returns to the bathroom.

 

“What is this?” He questions, handing it over. Zoro places it on the edge of the sink and goes back to carefully cleaning the cut on the bridge of his nose, thankfully it does look more like a cut than the skin having split from his nose breaking, which is good news for Zoro.

 

“Home made ice pack, it’s mostly cheap vodka so it doesn’t freeze. Gets really cold though.” Zoro answers, tossing some more cotton buds away.

 

Zoro opens the medicine cabinet again and pulls out the tub of witch hazel gel that Sanji had noticed before. He watches curiously as Zoro gingerly rubs it in on the unbroken skin of his nose and under each eye.

 

“Quit staring, it makes the bruising go away quicker.” Zoro informs him stroppily.

 

“I’m just concerned is all.” Sanji argues back. Why is Zoro being so goddamned hostile about this? It’s not his fault that Zoro got punched in the face and it’s certainly not Zoro’s if he just got decked the moment some stranger came up to him, so there shouldn’t be any pride at stake here. Yet all of a sudden Zoro is acting as prickly with him as he first did when Sanij first joined the band.

 

“Don’t be, I’m used to this.” Zoro says dismissively.

 

“Just how often do strangers punch you in the face that you’re used to this? You do seem to be pretty practiced at this, and I’ve seen pharmacies less well stocked than that cupboard. And why are you climbing in through top floor windows to get home when you have a perfectly good front door?” Sanji asks, voicing his concern finally as he watches Zoro stick the cut on his nose back together with an adhesive butterfly stich.

 

Sanji watches the ripple of tension run through Zoro’s muscles and he sharply pulls the cupboard door open, removes the painkillers, downs two and replaces them before turning angrily back to Sanji.

 

“Just when did any of this become your business or your problem? I didn’t ask for your help and your lucky I’ve not kicked you out for barging in here anyway!” Zoro yells at him in accusation.

 

“I’m just trying to help!” Sanji reasons, feeling his hackles rise, why does Zoro have to be such an ungrateful bastard?!

 

“I don’t need your help! I don’t need anyone’s help! I’ve got this under control so just get out!” Zoro orders him loudly and shoves Sanji firmly through the bathroom door that leads into his bedroom and slamming it behind him.

 

Sanji stalks angrily back to his own bed. Fine, if Zoro wants to suffer on his own then he could be Sanji’s guest! He yanks back his blanket and throws himself into bed and snaps the bedroom light off. It takes him quite some time to get off to sleep this time, stewing in the dark about Zoro is hardly the way to a restful night’s sleep.

 

 

A warm hand on Sanji’s bare shoulder wakes him, he blinks his eyes in the early dawn light and rolls onto his back to see Zoro standing by the side of his bed. His nose looks a less swollen than last night, though his previously good eye is starting to bruise. He remembers that he’s angry at Zoro.

 

“What do you want?” he grumbles, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. He feels completely exhausted. 

 

“I’m sorry you got upset.” Zoro says stiffly and begrudgingly. 

 

“That’s kind of a non-apology. You’re not apologising for being a jerk, you’re just faking an apology and making it sound like I reacted unreasonably.” He points out flatly. 

 

“I wasn’t in the best of moods, I had just been punched in the face.” Zoro argues a little weakly.

 

“Seeing as it wasn’t me who did that to you it wasn’t my fault. Now either apologise properly or piss off.” He grouses, scowling up at the guitarist who can’t quite seem to meet his eyes. 

 

“I’d only been trying to help you after all, but apparently you’re too high and mighty for that!” He adds a little spitefully, but in fairness to him Zoro was a real jerk to him. 

 

“I don’t need help, I can handle this on my own.” Zoro retorts quickly.

 

“Fine. Go handle it elsewhere!” Sanji snaps and falls back into his bed and rolls onto his side. 

 

He doesn’t hear Zoro leave and after a few moments the edge of his bed dips down, Zoro’s sat on his bed! He’s all but ready to kick Zoro off of his bed when the other man speaks. 

 

“I don’t need your help and I’m not used to having help. But… I appreciate the spirit that you offered it in. Even if it was entirely unnecessary and fussy.” Zoro says flatly, staring straight ahead and not looking at Sanji at all. 

 

Sanji squints at Zoro, trying to read the other man.

 

“That’s the best that I’m going to get out of you isn’t it?” he snorts, leaning up on his elbows and grinning a little despite himself. 

 

“Pretty much.” The guitarist sighs, a small smile tugging at his lips. 

 

“How is your face anyway? Can I see?” Sanji asks.

 

Zoro shrugs noncommittally and turns slightly in Sanji’s direction. Sanji kneels up to inspect his guitarist’s battered face. The mysterious small scratches on his skin seem to be knitting together quite well, they’ll probably be gone in a few days. The one on his nose looks a little worse but a lot better than yesterday, those little adhesive stitches apparently really do help wounds heal shut. 

 

“Don’t tell the others. Please?” Zoro asks him softly, his eyes looking hopeful. 

 

“They’re only gonna have to look at you to know something happened Zoro, you look better than last night, but not that much better.” Sanji frowns at the other man, sitting back into his bed as he does so. 

 

“You let me worry about that, just promise you won’t tell.” Zoro repeats, a frown creasing his face. 

 

Sanji considers this for a few moments before a brilliantly sneaky idea hits him. He grins at Zoro and the other man looks at him suspiciously, evidently some of his cunning is showing through on his face. 

 

“Okay, you can buy my silence, for three questions. I ask you three questions and no matter what you have to give me a completely honest answer, you’re an honourable man right? You wouldn’t go back on an agreement right? Deal?” He offers, holding his hand out to Zoro in offer.

 

“Fine. Ask away.” Zoro says looking displeased but having to agree either way. 

 

Sanji regards Zoro carefully, this is a rare opportunity and not one that would warrant wasting. He needs to choose his questions and choose them right. 

 

“First question, why don’t you want the others to know?” He says carefully, that seems to surprise Zoro but the other man smiles at Sanji, clearly thinking that Sanji’s wasted a question.

 

“Because they’d just ask questions that I don’t want to answer, and it’d worry them when they don’t need to be. Like I said, I don’t need to help and if they knew they’d be doing nothing _but_ offering help.” Zoro answers. 

 

“The person who punched you in the face… have you met them before? And if so who are they?” Sanji asks after some consideration.

 

“You really wanna burn your last two questions on that? Because that’s two, not one.” Zoro says instead of answering.

 

“Shit, okay. Yeah… just the first one then. Did you know the person who punched you?” Sanji winces, he’d hoped that he’d get away with that but evidently not. 

 

“I’ve met the person who punched me before, yes.” Zoro nods.

 

“One last question, you better think of something a little more interesting than finding out about some meaningless punch.” The guitarist grins teasingly. 

 

Shit. He’s right, Sanji’s kind of wasting these questions. He can’t think of a really great one on the spot and if he asks Zoro who punched him he’s liable to get a name of someone that he’s never met and it won’t mean jack shit to him and it’ll be a total waste of a question! Damn, if only he had more time! Oh… wait!

 

“I… think that I’ll hold onto that last question. I’ll ask you something at some point in the future, tell you that I’m cashing my ‘Zoro has to answer and honestly too’ question in. Until then, you’re free to go, I won’t tell anyone about your late night escapades. Not that I’ll do you any good, they’re only gonna have to take one look at you to know.” He snorts. 

 

“You- ugh. Fine. But you better keep your yap shut or I won’t ever answer your mysterious third question. You let me worry about not getting caught. Later cook.” Zoro says, standing up and walking into their shared bathroom through Sanji’s door. 

 

Sanji shakes his head. He is now even less sure about what to make of Zoro except for the fact that he’s prone to completely bonkers mood swings and is out of his tree. He’s also capable of being a massive jerk, which Sanji already knew, and also capable of being quite sweet as he’d so recently discovered. He… still kind of likes him though. 

 

Whatever. He isn’t awake enough to deal with this horseshit. He falls back onto his pillow and decides to sleep for another hour. This time sleep comes a little more easily, though Sanji would punch you in the mouth for suggesting that it’s because he’s on better terms with Zoro now. Totally not true. 

 

 

When Sanji eventually gets up and drags his body into some clean clothes and walks his tired legs downstairs he can’t see Zoro anywhere. His room is empty of crazy guitarists (or sane ones for that matter) and his blood stained clothes are suspiciously missing. Not that Sanji looked of course. That would be crazy. 

 

He saunters downstairs and heads into the kitchen to cook breakfast. He’s in the mood for a proper challenge this morning so he goes about making his bandmates custom made pancakes. The smell of cooking pancakes soon draws everyone in, all crowding around Sanji’s kitchen island asking for more or for their own toppings. 

 

Sweet glace cherries for Chopper, mikan slices and sugar for Nami, chocolate sauce and bacon for Luffy, dark chocolate for Robin, plain lemon and sugar for Brook, clove and cinnamon powder goes into Franky’s mix, Usopp has maple syrup on his. Sanji’s so busy cooking up a storm that he doesn’t even hear Zoro come into the kitchen though that could well be due to the noisy men in the room scarfing down their pancakes like sloppy pigs. 

 

“Lemon on mine.” Zoro says from behind him, making Sanji squeak out a yelp and nearly spill pancake batter. 

 

He whirls around to look up at Zoro and is stunned to see Zoro looking… normal. 

 

He’s wearing glasses, which he doesn’t usually do. Sanji notices that the thick-ish plastic frames sit right on the bridge of Zoro’s nose covering the cut that Sanji knows is there. Surprisingly his “good” eye looks completely fine, though there’s a slight change in skin tone now that Sanji’s looking at it and he realises with some sense of shock that Zoro’s wearing that make up that he’d spotted in the medicine cabinet before. Where the new bruise from the trauma to Zoro’s nose had started coming up under his previously bad eye Zoro had left, it blended in just fine with the other bruise. His nose also looks unblemished and unbruised. 

 

If he wasn’t looking for it and didn’t know he’d be none the wiser! How and more importantly why is Zoro this good at this?

 

“What are you gawping at?” Zoro challenges, his gaze stern. 

 

“Your stupid face.” Sanji shoots back, his answer half true. He spins and faces the stove again his mind whirring. He flips a pancake on auto pilot and retrieves the lemons that he already had out for Brook’s lemon and sugar pancakes. 

 

He hears Zoro walk off and sit down at the table with a scrape of his chair.

 

“Hey! You’re wearing your glasses! You know you should wear them more often, I hope you haven’t had another migraine to make you do it though…” Chopper fusses from behind Sanji.

 

“Not really, just had a little trouble reading some really fucking small print in the only English section of the register repair manual at work. Thought I ought to get into the habit again.” Zoro lies incredibly convincingly, Sanji might seriously need to consider who the liar was in this band, Usopp or Zoro. At least Usopp’s lies were obvious, with Zoro who knew? 

 

“Aww, getting old Zoro?” Nami teases affectionately.

 

“I’ll just let all the people older than me around the table take offence to that instead. Robin?” Zoro laughs.

 

“Hmm, yes Nami, care to explain?” Robin purrs dangerously.

 

“Eheheheh…” Nami laughs weakly. 

 

Sanji returns to the table with more pancakes for everyone, including Zoro in this round. Sanji’s own pancakes are whipped cream and strawberries. He eats as everyone else apparently doesn’t notice Zoro’s transformation into a Zoro who looks like he hasn’t had seven kinds of shit punched out of him. 

 

“Zoro, is that black eye of yours getting worse?” Robin questions quietly. Sanji keeps his head down and continues eating, Zoro should have known better than to try to outsmart Robin! Still, he made a bargain so he’s not going to give Robin any reaction at all, instead he’s just going to trust that she’s smart enough to work it out. 

 

“Is it?” Zoro asks, sounding surprised. Sanji watches him out of the corner of his eye as Zoro gently brushes the edge of his bruise.

 

“I don’t know, these things heal all weird you know. Maybe it’s just spreading a little as it fades? I’ll keep an eye on it.” Zoro says innocently, striking Sanji again with just how good a liar he is. Sanji really doesn’t like this deceptive side to his guitarist, he wants to scream out that Zoro is lying, that he’s really hurt but he can’t. He made a promise that he assumed he wouldn’t have to keep because he’d thought that everyone would know what had happened to Zoro just from looking at him. But they don’t and he can’t say a WORD!

 

“Ahaha, good one Zoro.” Brook chortles. 

 

“That wasn’t supposed to be a pun.” Zoro laughs in surprise.

 

“But it was a very good _pun_!” Brook says, emphasising the word pun in place for one and then laughs obnoxiously. 

 

Sanji swallows his last pancake and picks his plate up and starts to wash up. He tunes the others out as they all come up and place their dishes at his side and Zoro soon steps to the other side of him and wordlessly starts drying. 

 

Sanji doesn’t start up a conversation with Zoro. He wants to know just how often this happens and how often Zoro gets caught, more importantly how often _doesn’t_ he get caught? He’s clearly an experienced deceiver in this kind of thing, and his ability to disguise his injuries is incredible and speaks of practice. But why? 

 

He doesn’t know if he wants to burn his last question on that either. It’s too vague and Zoro could easily truthfully answer him but tell him nothing of use. He could ask Zoro why he’s so good with hiding his bruises and Zoro could honestly answer ‘practice’ and Sanji would be none the wiser. No. He needs to know more before asking about this. It seems like he’s going to need his entirely imaginary detective hat again. He has a mystery to solve and he wants to solve it soon. 


	8. Chapter 8

Sanji regards himself in the mirror with an appraising eye. 

The suit is nice of course, very nice. The shirt is smooth and expensive feeling, a deep ocean blue that does wonders for him, his tie is skinny and black and tucked behind an elegant perfectly fitting black waistcoat. The waistcoat itself has the same deep blue silk trim and the entire back panel is made of that silk. Throughout the fabric of the waistcoat and the suit trousers with it there are thin ever so barely there blue lines. When paired up which his shiny black shoes he looks dapper as fuck. 

That however is not what’s interesting him. What is interesting is Zoro’s reflection that he can see in the mirror, how Zoro is staring at him as if he’s terribly torn between ripping that suit off of him and just admiring him in it forever. He twists a little under the pretext of examining a different angle of the suit and watches the blush stain Zoro’s cheeks. 

“I think the blue goes very well.” Inazuma interrupts, twirling Sanji around and inspecting the suit. 

“It was certainly worth the time that you spent on it! It fits perfectly.” Sanji grins and glances at Zoro. Zoro’s not looking at him now, instead staring resolutely down at his phone, his slightly pink ears the only hint that there’s anything close to a blush on his face. 

“What do you think Zoro?” Sanji asks with an innocent smile because he’s nothing if not incredibly evil. 

“Hn. As long as it fits, you gotta wear the thing all day, not me.” Zoro grunts and taps at his phone, as if he’s barely able to bring himself to give even the tiniest fuck about Sanji in his suit. Sanji is not convinced. 

“It’s perfect.” He reassures Inazuma.

“Obviously.” Inazuma agrees and herds Sanji back to the changing area. 

“So the wedding is this Sunday, only three days away! Are you excited Zoro?” Sanji asks, pulling his tie off and throwing it over the top of the railing so that it hangs there. 

“Fucking ecstatic, in four days I’ll never have to have an argument with anyone again about whether something is wine coloured or burgundy. And if anyone ever tries to have that conversation with me again I can just punch them in the throat.” Zoro says tensely from the other side of the curtain. 

“What about when it’s your wedding?” Sanji asks curiously.

“ _IF_  I get married I’m fucking eloping. I can get married in the middle of the fucking ocean on a boat so that I can be as conceivably far away from any flower shop ever. In fact, I want to get married in whatever place in the ocean is as humanly far away from florists as it’s possible to be. That’s what I want.” Zoro growls. 

“I’m sensing some hostility towards the florist here, correct me if I’m wrong.” Sanji sniggers and slides out of his suit trousers. 

“I will straight up murder that man with pruning shears if he fucks up one more time, I swear to god.” The other man snarls whilst Sanji slips his shoes off. 

“Down boy. Just think of how happy Usopp and Kaya will be.” Sanji says soothingly as he shimmies into his jeans. 

“No, they’re going to be devastated because it’s three days until the wedding and I still don’t have a best man speech, _which you were meant to be helping me with,_  and whenever I talk too loud my voice goes all weird because of being punched in the face. So no, not feeling happy about it.” Zoro grouses. 

“You mean I who offered my services to help you entirely out of my own generosity and magnanimity and shit even when I didn’t have to? Especially as I’m not the moron of a best man who left something like the speech to the last possible second. Is that what you mean? Say yes.” He orders, sliding from behind the curtain and putting his shirt on over his head as he does so.

“Yes.” Zoro says between literally gritted teeth. 

“Good boy. Let’s go home and write your speech then so you don’t have a fucking aneurism and die before Sunday, yeah?” He smirks, patting Zoro on the head. Zoro looks about two seconds away from punching him. It just makes it better. 

Inazuma folds the clothes with the ruthless efficiency of one incredibly used to taking care of expensive items and handing them off to people that don’t fully appreciate them. Sanji takes the suit bag and is sure to thank Inazuma sincerely, it’s rather impressive of him to whip up such an amazing bespoke suit so quickly and so well after all. 

He leads the rather sulky marimo back to his car and the two of them start to drive home. Sanji rolls down the window and lights up a smoke as they drive, he can’t help but notice Zoro giving him a good dose of side eye for it though. 

“Don’t even get on my case about smoking, I don’t want to hear it.” He warns, glaring back. 

“Not my problem if you wanna fuck your voice up so it craps out on you in a few years.” Zoro grumbles, slouching down in his seat. 

“Well I’ll be interested to hear how well you sing after your nose eventually does break from all of your brawls.” He shoots back as he grips the steering wheel a little tighter.

“That’s none of your business!” the guitarist snaps at him. 

Sanji just smirks and inhales on his cigarette, waiting for Zoro to get the point.

“…Touché.” Zoro mutters eventually. 

“Knew you’d get there in the end, moss head.” He snickers.

“Oi, don’t call me that.” The other man protests, shoving him slightly.

“Oh, I’m sorry greenie.” Sanji amends insincerely. 

“OI!” 

This continues for the whole ride home with Sanji thinking up every variation upon green or moss or seaweed that he possibly can whilst Zoro protests louder and more vehemently each time. By the time they get back Sanji is pretty sure that Zoro doesn’t even remember that he was wound up about the speech or the wedding. 

“So I suppose that I ought to help your incompetent ass write this speech song thing then, only out of the goodness of my own heart of course.” He sighs with a barely suppressed smirk as he gets out of his car. Zoro is beyond words now and just lets out this feral kind of sound and chases Sanji into the house. Trying to laugh and escape is hard work so on the chase up to their floor Zoro almost catches him a few times. 

Eventually Zoro does, just as Sanji is getting into their hallway too. A strong hand catches in the back of his shirt and yanks him back hard. His back collides with Zoro’s strong chest and all of the fight goes out of him as Zoro’s strong arm wraps around his ribs, pinning him there. 

“Think you’re so fuckin’ quick, dumbass.” Zoro pants against Sanji’s neck, sending Sanji’s thoughts scattering like dropped marbles. 

He only manages to haul everything back together when Zoro thunks him on the top of the head with a fist, not too hard though. It still snaps him out of his haze and he has the forethought to elbow Zoro in the stomach and escape laughing. 

“So come on then.” He grins, leading the way into Zoro’s room, trying to ignore all of the other connotations that his words and actions could have. Zoro follows him with his almost trademark scowl and it’s only when the back of Sanji’s knees hit the edge of the bed that he remembers that their notebook isn’t in here, it’s still in Sanji’s own room by his bedside table. 

“Oh!” He gasps, ducking under Zoro’s arm and darting out of Zoro’s room, across the hall into his own. He hears Zoro’s distant ‘hey!’ but ignores it. He snags the notebook and returns. 

“I borrowed this last night before you came home. I… tried to write some stuff because I couldn’t sleep but I don’t know if you’ll want to use any of it. I mean, you’re the writer here, not me.” He hedges awkwardly, holding the notebook out but not quite wanting to give it to Zoro. 

As Zoro tries to take it Sanji puts up a little grip resistance, suddenly his idea of trying to write some stuff for Zoro seems incredibly silly and he wants to pull the book back, rip out the page that he wrote on and eat it so that no one else ever has to see it. Seriously, what was he thinking?! 

Zoro takes it from him though, apparently none the wiser to Sanji’s internal turmoil. He flops back on the bed to read it and Sanji anxiously sits down next to him. Every second that passes whilst Zoro reads his work is sheer agony. It doesn’t help that Zoro doesn’t say anything either, his face remains expressionless and after a minute or so Zoro sits up and wordlessly grabs his guitar. He settles himself in the middle of the bed and after a moment of placing his fingers carefully on the fretboard he strums through the loose tune that he’d been using before. As he does so he reads through what Sanji has written, humming along softly. 

Sanji tries to restrain the urge to leap across the bed and snatch the whole thing back but Zoro’s already read it now and why on earth did he show him?!

“You’ve got an extra syllable here and I think you’re about one short here… so you might wanna change those words a little but… it’s good. I like it. It’s really good actually.” Zoro says softly, running his finger over the paper.

"Really?" Sanji asks weakly. 

"Yeah, I guess you really were serious about helping me get this thing finished. Thanks." Zoro says, looking up at him from the paper with a small smile that makes Sanji melt a little bit inside.

"Well, only ‘cause you clearly weren't going to finish it on your own." He forces out, desperate to say something but his only response coming straight from the sarcastic part of his brain. 

"Shut it." Zoro retorts, leaning over and shoving Sanji in the head. 

The two of them run over synonyms for the words that Sanji had picked until his verses fit well within the song. It's nearly done and it only takes a few more hours work of pouring over their lyrics to get it to the stage where they're happy with it. Sanji's hardly going to complain that their combined weight stretched lengthways across the bed makes them roll in a little closer to each other than they'd intended. So much so that they're pressed together at their sides from shoulder to foot. 

"I'm gonna run through this." Zoro says slowly, sitting up on the bed once more and getting his guitar. He starts the intro to the song and then begins singing, he only gets about halfway through the song before his tone starts sliding all over the place and he has to pinch the bridge of his nose in pain. His nose might not be broken but it still clearly hurts and it's affecting his singing. 

"Shit, I thought I'd be over this by now." Zoro growls.

"Since last night?" Sanji questions incredulously. 

"Well it's not like it's broken, I should be able to work through this." The guitarist says stubbornly. Sanji rolls his eyes, Zoro is the biggest moron that he's ever met, as if you can just keep going through an injury like that. 

"It doesn't matter Zoro, you weren't going to sing this anyway, you were gonna turn it into a speech remember?" He reminds the other man. 

"Shut up. You sing it." Zoro orders, shoving the paper into his hands and resetting the position of his own hands on the guitar. 

"I can only do one of those at a time, idiot." Sanji points out flatly. 

Zoro ignores him and starts the guitar intro. Sanji comes in when Zoro did on his turn. He keeps his voice soft and wistful, he tries to channel the feeling that he thinks that Zoro feels. He remembers how gentle and pliant the guitarist can be when it comes to Usopp. He remembers how Usopp can fuss over Zoro when the green haired idiot would snap at anyone else doing it. Usopp was Zoro's oldest and closest friend and now he's getting married and despite all of the stress of helping to arrange the wedding Sanji knows that Zoro couldn't be happier for him. 

He supposes that he's sort of channelling the wrong person here. He's supposed to be singing the song as if he was Usopp to Kaya but he doesn't know enough about their relationship to do that. Despite quite liking the keyboard player he's not has as much interaction with Usopp as he has had with Zoro and that interaction hasn't been as deep as his and Zoro's has. Still, it doesn't matter if the love that he's feeding into the song is Zoro's platonic love for Usopp instead of Usopp's romantic love for Kaya, all that matters is that the love in the song feels real and believable. 

He runs through the song and when they get to the end Zoro gives him an assessing look for a little while. 

"Thinking of changing something? Did one of those lines not sound quite right?" Sanji guesses as Zoro's considering look.

"No, it was perfect." Zoro says dismissively.

Perfect?

Sanji's face reddens at that strong a compliment. Zoro said that it was perfect. 

"I just... I don't want to screw this whole speech up and writing and playing guitar is what I'm good at, it's one of the reasons that me and Usopp became friends in the first place, our shared love of music. I think... it might be better if I play it and you sing. I mean, I can introduce and explain it but... would you sing for me?" Zoro asks him seriously, his face painfully earnest.

"At Usopp's wedding?!" Sanji squeaks in terror. 

"Yes, I know it's a lot to ask but... your voice is perfect for this song and you helped write it too. I want the whole day to be as good as I can make it for them and... though it pains me to admit it... you're the better choice for this than me." Zoro says with a wince.

"Zoro..." Sanji breathes in shock. Zoro's actually said... he's admitted that Sanji should be the singer, and he's getting the feeling that Zoro doesn't just mean for this one song. He's pretty sure that Zoro is speaking generally about the band. He never thought that he'd actually get to hear Zoro admit that kind of thing but he just did! 

"Don't make me ask again Sanji, come on." Zoro groans, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. 

"Of course, if you really want me to... I will. I'll do whatever you need. For the whole day too, I mean if you need someone else running around checking on things for you for the day then I can do that." Sanji nods. Zoro's face breaks out into a picture of relief. 

"That would be great. Come on, I'm gonna make you run through this until we can both play it asleep." Zoro says, changing the topic quickly and prodding Sanji into singing once more. 

The two of them practice all evening, glad that Usopp is out with Kaya and can't risk hearing them. They both want this song to be a surprise.

And it’s not that Sanji wants to impress Zoro or anything, after all just because he’s hot doesn’t mean that he feels some need to show off to him or anything. So the fact that he’s practicing the song for the wedding at every possible opportunity where neither Zoro nor Usopp can hear him is neither here nor there. 

After all, he’s already realised that pursuing Zoro would be a silly idea as he doesn’t even know if Zoro likes guys and he hardly wants to be another singer that Zoro’s dated and bombed with. He’d really rather stay in the band than get in Zoro’s pants. So it’s not like he’s hoping that if he’s attractive enough or if he sings well enough that Zoro might make the decision and crack before he does. 

As if he’d be so needy and spineless as to do that. The endless secret practicing and the additional care he’s taking choosing outfits that compliment him are entirely incidental. Really. 

Anyway, the next few days before the wedding fly by in a blur. Zoro will occasionally run up to him looking like he’s about to have a heart attack, yell a name of a business and an address in Sanji’s direction and he’ll rush to his car and ferry Zoro to it. Once there Zoro proceeds to have a series of increasingly tense and irritable discussions with various salespeople and business owners about increasingly stupid things like cutlery or lighting. Sanji supposes that it’s all important but Zoro is really getting wound up about it. 

It’s actually starting to get a little worrying in all honesty. The day before the wedding the venue had called Usopp up to inform him that the tent outside the venue where the guests could go to get drinks whilst photographs were being taken had blown down in a particularly windy storm. Despite the pleasant weather forecast for the actual day of the wedding the days leading up to it have been nothing but wet and windy and it doesn’t appear to be doing Zoro’s blood pressure any favours. 

Thankfully Usopp’s stag night had been and gone before Sanji had even joined the band, apparently Kaya had been worried that Usopp might get himself completely trashed and in some kind of trouble and had sensibly concluded that all that sort of thing should be over with long enough before the wedding that things could be fixed and “funny” sharpie tattoos could get washed off. Either way it was a good decision because Sanji is pretty sure that Zoro wouldn’t be able to cope with a night out right about now, and especially combined with Zoro’s apparent skill for getting punched in the face the moment he sets foot in a bar it’s probably best that it’s already been over and done with. 

Sanji had set his alarm for what he considered to be early on the day of the wedding, figuring that all of the groomsmen and especially the groom could use a good solid breakfast to see them through the morning until the full wedding breakfast that would be after the ceremony and photographs.

When he heads into the kitchen in his pyjamas though he finds Usopp sitting there alone, nursing a cup of coffee and staring into it as if it might hold the secrets of the universe if he just looks hard enough. Sanji hesitates at the door, Usopp hasn’t noticed him yet so he backs out of the room and heads upstairs to his floor. Instead of going into his own bedroom though he turns left and knocks softly on Zoro’s door. He waits a few moments but doesn’t get an answer, so he gently opens the door slowly. When he peeks in the room he sees that Zoro is sprawled diagonally across his bed in a tangled mess of sleepy limbs and bed covers. 

“Zoro.” Sanji calls softly, coming into the room. Zoro doesn’t respond and instead just snores gently through his slightly open mouth. 

Sanji comes a little closer and takes a few seconds to survey Zoro’s naked face, free from whatever trickery Zoro uses to cover up his cuts and bruises. True to his original promise his first black eye is almost completely gone, some shallow yellow and green bruising is the only real hint that there was any injury there at all. Under both eyes however is a nasty green and purple colour, though this bruise just spreads out from the bridge of Zoro’s nose on either side, tracing the edges of what Sanji supposes is his eye sockets. He guesses those would have been the bones that absorbed the impact of Zoro’s surprise punch to the face. The gash on Zoro’s nose that had looked so permanent and gruesome before is now healed together neatly and is just a red line. Zoro is apparently surprisingly good at providing his own medical attention. 

“Zoro.” He repeats, reaching out and shaking Zoro’s shoulder.

The guitarist groans and blinks blearily at him.

“Whuh?” Zoro groans, rubbing at his eyes.

“Best man duties Zoro, Usopp looks like he’s freaking out in the kitchen. Better get a move on.” Sanji informs him.

“Shit.” Zoro curses, rolling out of bed and landing nimbly on his feet. Zoro quickly makes his way to the bathroom and when he appears a minute or two later He’s made up enough that you can’t see the thin red cut on his nose or the new bruising from his most recent brawl. Sanji squints at him, ninety percent sure that it’s got to be witchcraft and not make up.

Sanji follows Zoro as he makes his way out of his bedroom and quickly down the stairs to the ground floor. Zoro leads the way into the kitchen and sure enough Usopp is still sitting there unmoved since Sanji last saw him. 

“Hey.” Zoro says softly, touching Usopp’s shoulder and pulling him out of his numb looking haze. 

Sanji leaves them to it and starts on breakfast. He re-evaluates what he was planning on making, Usopp looks a little pale and interesting so he’s probably not up for eating a whole lot of food right now. Something nutritious and filling yet easy to eat and perhaps a little plain. He knows just the thing.

Sanji sets about making his revised breakfast plan for everyone, although he’s not cooking for his lovely ladies this morning. As Kaya’s bridesmaids their duties are strictly reserved for helping the bride get ready this morning, as such they stayed with her last night and are probably having a delightful feminine breakfast this morning. He can picture it now, dainty china, elegant laughter and good table manners. They would be composed and refined, unlike Usopp who is sitting half in Zoro’s lap, crying into his shoulder with tears and snot running down his face. 

“What if she changes her mind? Why would she want to marry meeee?” Usopp cries into Zoro’s shoulder. Sanji watches through the curtain of his hair as Zoro clenches his jaw and reassuringly pats his back, clearly trying not to lose his temper.

“She won’t change her mind Usopp, you know that.” Zoro reasons logically. Sanji isn’t so sure that logic is going to work right now and as the others come in the room they too try to reassure Usopp with how they know that everything will be fine (or indeed “super”) but it’s no use. Usopp is too far gone in his self-doubt and panic to be reached by mere logic. 

“It’s too early, I wanna go back to beeeed.” Luffy whines, resting his head on the table sleepily. He was clearly dragged out of bed by one of the others. 

Sanji sprinkles some maple syrup and pecan nuts in Usopp’s porridge, for short and long term energy. He goes for ice cream sprinkles with Chopper’s, honey with Brook’s, brown sugar in Franky’s and Luffy’s. With Luffy’s he also relents and brings out some cold sausages left over from yesterday’s breakfast (cleverly whipped out of the reach of Luffy’s gaping maw and stored for just this occasion). With Zoro’s he has a feeling that the guitarist will actually like salt in his porridge, it’s more of a Scottish thing but Zoro’s got more of a savoury tongue than a sweet tooth. 

“I’m sleepy too.” Chopper agrees with a tired whine. 

“Hohoho! These little ones want to go back to bed and Usopp is having second thoughts, maybe we should call the whole thing off!” Brook jokes.

Sanji winces. He might not know Zoro better than his friends do, but he knows Zoro better than he knows the others and whilst he can tell that Brook is clearly trying to joke to lighten the mood and make the panicked groom laugh it’s not the right move to go for with Zoro.

“NO!” Zoro yells, leaping to his feet. 

“We’ve not spent six months frantically arranging this fucking thing only to drop it at the last moment! USOPP STOP CRYING! Kaya loves you more than anything and you are going up that aisle and saying your vows if I have to punch a hole through your spine and jam my hand into your head to operate you like a goddamn puppet!” He shouts, jabbing a finger into Usopp’s face. The tears stop as if turned off by tap but Sanji suspects that it’s more out of fear of Zoro than anything else. 

“You two will quit your bitching, drink some caffeine and eat breakfast! You will stop saying stupid jokes or I will remove that so treasured afro from your head by the _roots_. Now everyone will stick with the plan and we will all have a magical time and it will be a beautiful day to remember so help me god!” Zoro screams, eyeballing all of the men at the table to dare to challenge him. 

Not one of them do. 

“On that note, breakfast. Eat all of it, and Luffy if I see you stealing I will leave you at Zoro’s not-so-merciful hands. Got that?” He warns, putting the bowls down and seeing Luffy’s food lust filled eyes. 

“Sit, breathe, eat.” He murmurs gently to Zoro, moving behind him and softly pressing on his shoulder to make him sit down as he deposits his breakfast in front of him. Soon breakfast is dished up to all of the silent males at the table and Sanji joins them. 

“God Sanji, how can you make porridge good? I always hated porridge as a kid but… wow.” Franky says, bravely breaking the silence. 

“It’s lovely.” Chopper chirps meekly in agreement, flicking the now slightly more relaxed looking Zoro a look. 

The kettle whistles and Sanji rises from the table and heads to the drinks cabinet. The others at the table all have drinks of their own, as he’d put down a pitcher of milk and a pitcher of juice when he first laid the table. But this is something special, just for Zoro. He puts down a mug and opens the cutlery drawer to remove a small mesh ball which hinges open, he also removes a small spoon. He sprinkles the slightest bit of sugar in the bottom and pops open the mesh ball. As the kettles cools a little he fills the small ball with little daisy like flowers from the container in the cupboard that holds Robin’s extensive coffee selection. He snaps the ball shut and dangles it in the cup from its chain which he wraps around the handle of the mug. With that done he pours the not quite boiling water over it until the mug is almost full. He dunks the ball a few times and then rests knowing that it will infuse on its own. 

“Drink this, no arguments.” He orders Zoro, placing the mug before him and sitting back in his own chair. 

“What… is that?” Zoro asks dubiously peering inside and plucking at the chain. His scowl is still present on his face and doesn’t seem inclined to move. 

“Arsenic, I thought I ought to put you out of our misery. Just fucking drink it, if I wanted your opinion or permission I’d have asked for it. So as I didn’t, do what you’re told.” Sanji snaps back, staring Zoro down. He won’t be moved out of this, Zoro can snarl and bark all he wants, that dog won’t bite and Sanji knows it. 

Zoro scowls at him but eventually takes a little sip. 

“It’s too hot, I can’t taste a thing.” Zoro bitches, fanning his tongue.

“Well maybe you ought to eat your porridge and wait then goldilocks.” Sanji mocks, poking his tongue out. Usopp giggles for the first time that morning and Sanji is pleased to see that he looks more like himself now. Sanji also suspects that it’s only because Zoro is pleased by Usopp’s return to normal that all he gets is flipped off rather than verbally attacked. 

Eventually the drink cools enough to drink it and when it does so Zoro puts up less of a fuss and just drinks it. Sanji hopes that the chamomile tea will soothe the guitarist’s frayed nerves. Either way whether because his best friend is calmer now or because of the tea Zoro looks a little more relaxed. 

“Alright, all of you get shaved and showered now. No exceptions!” Zoro declares, standing up. 

“But… I don’t shave!” Chopper points out meekly with big watery eyes as if contemplating the terror of having to learn to do so on such an important day. 

“I… okay, you don’t have to shave. But you’d better shower!” Zoro adds, apparently determined to be the boss. 

“Yes! Of course!” Chopper chirps, leaping to his feet. As one the others all get up from the table with excited talk about the wedding. 

“You too Sanji.” Zoro warns, looking at him as Sanji starts collecting the bowls. 

“I’ve got breakfast to clean up first.” Sanji points out, gesturing to the bowls and other breakfast mess. 

“Can’t you just leave it, just for once?” Zoro groans, pinching the bridge of his nose in stress and then looking immediately like he regrets it as it’s awfully close to his cut. 

“Well, seeing as we can’t both use the shower at the same time…” he reasons, very firmly ignoring his brain’s helpful hint that actually they could and it could be rather fun!

“You shower first, and I’ll wash up. If you like you can text me when you’re done and I’ll leave whatever’s left and rush off to shower too. That sound like a fair compromise?” He offers, shooing Zoro out of the room.

“I guess… but you’d better come up right away!” Zoro says sternly. 

“Of course oh mighty best man, I bow at your every whim!” he jeers sarcastically bowing in mock deference. Zoro takes the opportunity to slap him on the back of the head for his insolence, Sanji shoves him back in retaliation, making him laugh. 

“And for god’s sake don’t use that cheap shit on your hair. For once in your life use something good. Take my shampoo and conditioner so you look a _little_  less like you’re growing moss on your head!” He shouts as Zoro exits the room. 

“Bite me cook!” Zoro yells and disappears. 

Sanji gets to tidying. He’s cleaned all of the bowls and glasses by the time Zoro’s demanding text pings through to his phone. He’s okay with leaving the porridge saucepan to soak off. He dries his hands on a drying towel and heads upstairs, phone in hand. 

When he gets up to his floor Zoro is wearing a towel low on his waist and nothing else. After a second or two of yanking his brain out of the gutter he manages a response.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” He demands, hoping that if he gets the demand in first then Zoro won’t. 

“I’m not looking at you like anything, get showered!” Zoro snaps and shoves Sanji into his own room. 

Sanji strips off as he gets into the bathroom and locks both doors, he showers quickly but thoroughly and shaves right afterwards when his skin is still wet. He takes time drying and brushing his hair nice and smooth and then shimmies into his custom made suit and yeah, he still looks damn fantastic in it.

When he emerges from the bedroom suited and booted Zoro’s door is open and the guitarist is nowhere to be seen, however there’s a certain amount of shouting from the floors below that suggest some kind of chaos is happening. Sanji goes down to investigate. 

All of their suits appear to be different colours for each of them, the main grey colour is the same but the trim, the shirt, the pinstripes and the back silk panel to their waistcoats are all different. Brook’s suit is grey and black, it should look all drab and funeral like but he looks pretty sharp in it actually. Similarly Franky’s is the same light blue colour as his hair and that too suits him well. 

Sanji catches Chopper wandering around holding his tie and looking worried. He stops the young teenager and bends down to fasten the tie neatly for him and straighten out his little waistcoat at the back where the strap is slightly twisted. 

“Where’s Luffy?” Sanji asks suspiciously, looking around at the others. 

“Dunno.” Franky shrugs and the others look equally blank. 

Remembering that he’s personally decided to be Zoro’s right hand man for the day he heads down another floor to where he knows Luffy’s room is. He knocks on the slightly ajar door and lets himself in to find Luffy sprawled across the bed with a foot in the air trying to do up his shoelaces. 

“Having a little trouble there boss?” Sanji grins at him. 

“Shoelaces are dumb. Do you think that Zoro would notice if I just wore my sandals?” Luffy asks, looking at Sanji hopefully. 

“Not only would he notice but I’m pretty sure that he’d make you eat them if he caught you.” Sanji answers with a laugh. 

“Man, I know Usopp is Zoro’s best friend and all but he’s taking this all way too seriously.” Luffy pouts, giving up on the laces and flopping completely on the bed. 

“I think he feels responsible if everything doesn’t go perfectly.” He shrugs, walking over to Luffy and sitting by his feet. He picks up Luffy’s foot and starts lacing up his shoes for him, somehow their drummer has managed to make a real mess and Sanji wonders if Luffy can actually do laces up at all or if it’s just these ones that have foxed him. From the fact that he’s not actually seen Luffy in proper shoes that didn’t have Velcro on them he thinks that perhaps Luffy can’t. That’s interesting if nothing else. 

“Yeah, but it’s supposed to be a party! It’s meant to be a celebration, it’s supposed to be _fun_!” Luffy argues, leaning up on his elbows and watching. 

“Weddings are great fun, but I think organising them is a little stressful. It’s a big responsibility if people don’t have fun, and there’s all that legal stuff too. There.” Sanji answers, finishing the final lace on Luffy’s other shoe. 

“I guess. Thanks.” Luffy adds with a smile, sitting up and doing his tie up easily. 

“You can do your tie up but not your shoes?” Sanji laughs at the utter ridiculousness of it. 

“Of course, I’m not an idiot!” Luffy chuckles and straightens it around his throat.

He hops off of the bed with an energetic bounce and he too looks pretty cool in his suit. His is all decked out in red, except his tie and his pinstripes are black. 

Sanji looks around Luffy’s room, the place is a chaotic mess but it’s kind of homely too. It’s full of random nick-knacks that Luffy seems to have just picked up throughout his life, there’s also drumsticks of all kinds all over the place. 

Luffy looks at himself in the mirror and after some consideration and a reluctant sigh Luffy takes his hat off and combs through his hair with a brush that he scavenges off of the floor. Luffy doesn’t look too happy to be leaving his hat here but he’s doing it anyway. 

“I’ve never been in your room before.” He notes, looking around a little more. 

“You should! Though I’m not in here much, I prefer to go find people to hang out with. But you’re usually in the kitchen or the TV room if you want to talk to people. Or off with Zoro.”  Luffy notes with a small smile on his mouth that heats Sanji’s cheeks for no reason that Sanji can put his finger on. 

“We should get going.” He says quickly instead, getting up off of Luffy’s bed and brushing entirely imaginary dust off of his suit just so that he has an excuse not to make eye contact with Luffy. 

“You like Zoro.” Luffy states simply. Sanji jerks and looks up at Luffy who is watching him intensely, with his hands stuffed casually in his back pockets. 

“Hah, no, I tolerate Zoro’s many, many flaws. He’s okay I guess, but he’s at his best with his trap shut and playing his guitar.” Sanji lies with a laugh. 

“Lying is Usopp’s thing Sanji, not yours. You like him. It’s cool, I think you’re good for him. Better than Baby was.” The drummer smiles at him and Sanji’s face is nearing the red colour of Luffy’s shirt. 

“Well, I don’t intend on stealing all of your songs and leaving you guys in the lurch, or slapping Zoro on stage, so there’s that.” Sanji answers weakly. 

“Not what I meant. You coming or what?” their band leader grins at him from the door and Sanji reminds himself that despite the way he acts, the guy is not an idiot. 

“S… sure.” He responds weakly and follows. 

“Luffy are- oh.” Zoro’s voice comes from the hall.

“Sanji helped me get ready!” Luffy informs him happily and Sanji emerges to find a slightly stunned looking Zoro in the hallway eyeing the rather presentable looking Luffy. 

“You’re all done.” Zoro remarks in some surprise. 

“You’re welcome.” Sanji snorts. 

“Thanks…” Zoro says a little distantly, as if he still can’t quite grasp the idea that he’s not going to have to force Luffy into his suit. 

Behind Zoro is Usopp. His hair is loosely tied back but still flowing pretty freely, it looks nice in the way that Usopp’s messy curls always do. His suit is a gorgeous gold colour that somehow really works for him. It should look stupid and ostentatious but it doesn’t, somehow it makes him look regal somehow. Sanji is starting to suspect that Inazuma must be some kind of tailoring wizard. 

“Chopper, I’ve got to go-” Zoro suddenly says, heading for the stairs. 

“I’ve already sorted his tie out too, he’s all set from what I can tell.” Sanji chips in. 

“Oh. Thanks.” Zoro says, looking at Sanji strangely. 

“Why are you giving me that look? Is my suit all weird, has my hair gone funny?” Sanji suddenly frets, twisting to look himself over and running his hands over his body to check whether anything is out of place. He quickly combs through his hair with his hands but that too seems fine. When he focuses his attention back on the considerably calmer looking Zoro the other man’s strange expression is gone, incidentally so are Usopp and Luffy. Sanji didn’t notice them leave… somehow. 

“Rings... phone… keys… wallet… uh…” Zoro mutters, heading to the stairs with Sanji in tow as he pats himself down. 

“Your guitar left with Robin last night, and Chopper sent his best mic off with her remember? She’s in on the plan and Usopp will be none the wiser, quit fussing.” He orders, elbowing the best man. 

“You’re the one fussing over me.” Zoro accuses weakly. 

“You’re welcome asshole.” Sanji snorts, as the two of them come into the main lobby of their home. 

“We’ve still got all of those balloons to blow up and the signs to order up for the route.” Zoro recites as they go down the stairs. Sanji isn’t sure if Zoro is just reminding himself of all of the jobs that they have left or whether he’s actually reminding Sanji. He’d guess that since Zoro doesn’t look to him for a reply that it’s the first one. 

They go into their main living area downstairs where they have all of the nice plush sofas and the sizeable TV. To Sanji’s surprise, the others are already there blowing up the balloons. He leaps over the back of the sofa to join them and snags a couple of deflated ones. For each set of three that they blow up Brook ties them together with his thin and nimble fingers. Sanji finds it easier than the others to blow up the balloons, being able to get them to a decent size in just a puff or two, but then, unlike the others his skill does sort of rely on his lungs. 

In no time at all they have all of the balloons inflated and the laminated signs organised not, thankfully, that it looks like it’s going to rain today. 

“That went quicker than I thought.” Zoro notes, looking around their band mates. 

“Your faith in our incompetence is always so flattering Zoro.” Franky sniggers. 

“Maaaybe I shouldn’t drive.” Usopp says thoughtfully as they all make their way out to the garage with armfuls each of squeaky balloons. He holds his hands up and Sanji can see that he’s shaking like a leaf. 

“Ya think?” Zoro sighs, taking the key off of Usopp and chucking it in Franky’s direction. They all pile into the van together, careful of their fancy suits. The engine starts and Franky drives them there. Sanji looks around the others and thinks that this is all going rather well. 

They make their way to the main road that’s on the way to the venue and Sanji is the first to hop out with Zoro handing him a sign. It reads “Usopp & Kaya, straight ahead!” With two zip ties he secures the sign and the balloons to the street lamp and hops back into the back of the van and settles next to Zoro’s side. Zoro hands him another sign set and they both stare silently out of the window until Sanji has to hop out again with the next direction sign. 

This happens before each turning and occasionally along a long road to reassure incoming guests that they are headed in the right direction. Because of all of their stops the journey to the venue takes a little longer than it usually would but they get there soon enough. 

Set in the middle of some idyllic woodland there is a small vineyard and brewery, attached to it is a centuries old barn which has been renovated for wonderful events such as this. The van pulls up into the gravel courtyard opposite and they all get out with a few of the boxes that had been stored in the back of the van with them. 

Walking up the cobblestoned driveway and courtyard allows Sanji to really take in the view of the barn itself. Big wooden oak beams, stained with age and many loving coats of varnish form the main support pillars of the building whilst the pale stone from the local area comprises the walls. One large doorway of the barn is now a wide glass arch, letting plenty of sunlight into the inside of the barn. Set in the middle of the glass arch are two heavy black wooden doors with wrought iron decorations to them. On either side of the doorways are pretty little trimmed hedges in pots with fairy lights in them. Sanji knows that they look magical at night because he and Zoro were up here last night so that Zoro could check that everything was working in a fit of last minute paranoia. 

To Sanji’s relief, and obviously Zoro’s as well from the sigh that he heaves, the white marquee tent in the lawn outside the barn is back up again, repaired from the storm. 

“Right, you lot. Candles on tables, in there, move. Sanji, you’re with me.” Zoro orders, shoving the box of tea light candles and candle holders into Franky’s hands. From it though he also removes a big piece of bunting. 

Sanji hasn’t seen this yet, he knows that Nami, Robin and Kaya had been making this decoration as some kind of girly bonding activity. It’s actually really pretty. There are triangles of fabric sewn into a red ribbon, the patterns range from cream to red including a red and white chequered one which is quite pretty. Every few flags there is a small little bell at the tip. Sanji supposes that they’re meant to waft gently and delicately in the breeze with a soft jingle, but right now they’re rattling discordantly in Zoro’s hands. 

Zoro hands him one end and they split up with Zoro attaching the start of the reel to one of the supporting pillars of the tent whilst Sanji balances on the back of a chair and does the same with the next pillar. Together they weave the bunting across the whole structure, throwing it back and forth as they move from place to place. As they work the others are busy setting up candles and scattering table decorations on the tables below. By the time that they’re all done the place looks gorgeous and tasteful, Sanji’s pretty damn impressed actually. Zoro has no time to admire his work though as he’s already off chasing down servers about something to do with the drinks. Sanji leaves him to it and returns some empty boxes to the car. 

The first hour or two there is taken up with these little jobs which really do put the final touches on the already beautiful place. They’re all running back and forth at Zoro’s every order and despite all of the stress that Zoro has clearly gone through it’s evidently working. Even Usopp seems to appreciate being kept busy enough that he has no time to panic. 

When the officiant arrives though Usopp starts looking incredibly nervous. Zoro notices this and goes off inside with the two of them to keep an eye on the twitchy groom. 

Guests have been arriving non-stop for the last half an hour. Seeing as neither Kaya or Usopp have any biological family the entire guest list is friends, the two of them have a fair number of friends it seems! 

Thankfully Usopp is inside when Kaya’s car pulls up with the girls inside of it. The vehicle is a beautiful cream with white wedding bows all over it. Cameras flash as if a movie starlet was arriving at a premier, and when Kaya gets out Sanji isn’t sure that he’s wrong. Her gorgeous blonde hair is curled and a silver ornate band rests in her hair, giving her every air of a real princess. Her flowing white lace and silk dress does nothing to dispel that feel, only to enhance it. Robin and Nami of course look radiant but, and as should be the case, both of them are eclipsed by Kaya’s timeless elegance and beauty as the bride. 

Sanji remembers Zoro’s instructions and along with Robin and Nami, shepherds her into the tent and lets the white fabric doors close behind them. That way even if Usopp was to come outside he is in no danger of seeing his bride before the wedding. 

“You look… stunning, all of you. Kaya you look absolutely radiant and- uh… oh…” Sanji tails off as he sees a certain figure strut up the cobbled driveway. 

“What is it Sanji?” Kaya asks in concern, looking over her pale shoulder at him. 

“Nothing! Just something I’ve got to take care of for Zoro, there’s only so much that man can do at once you know!” He lies with a smile and shuts the tent doors. 

He dashes towards the driveway. 

Walking up it carefully in obscenely high heels is Baby. She’s wearing an absolutely skin tight black lace and silk dress that would be eerily similar to the design of Kaya’s only far shorter and tighter. Sanji would have realised that and been disturbed by it if he wasn’t freaking out so much. 

“What are you doing here?” He gasps, coming to a halt in front of her. 

“One of my old friends is getting married today, I thought I should be here.” She answers, flipping her hair over her shoulder and gazing at him challengingly. 

“Did you get an invitation?” Sanji asks carefully, knowing full well that the answer is no. 

“It must have been lost.” She says flippantly. 

She chews her lip and lowers her gaze, suddenly she appears every bit the sweet girl that Sanji met in the coffee shop. It throws him. 

“Look Sanji, I’m not here to cause trouble. I’ll hide in the back if I have to. I just liked Usopp and Kaya a lot and I wanted to see them get married. When all that mess with Zoro kicked off I lost all of my friends, I told you already, I’m lonely. I just want to see their happy day. You can understand that, can’t you?” She pleads, looking up at him with her big brown eyes. 

“I… I do. But it’s their day and if they didn’t invite you then I can’t let you in. I’m really sorry but I just can’t.” Sanji answers sadly. 

“I should have figured. Everyone hates me, even you. You used to like me a little but you spent enough time around them and now you’re not even answering my phone calls or texts anymore.” She pouts sadly. Sanji winces, she has been texting him the last few days but as per Zoro’s request he’s not responded in any way. 

“You did show up at our gig just to throw Zoro off.” Sanji reasons, still remembering that blank frightened look on Zoro’s face and feeling his heart clench because of it. He needs to get rid of her before Zoro comes out and sees her, he can’t handle seeing her today, not with how stressed he already is. 

“I showed up because you invited me, remember?” Baby insists, jutting her hip challengingly. 

“And if I’d known who you were, I wouldn’t have. You need to go, please.” He insists as gently as he can. 

“So who are you protecting from being faced with me, Kaya, Usopp or Zoro? Are you being a good little muse to him then?” she presses, Sanji flinches at that and it makes her smirk, he suspects that he’s just inadvertently answered her question. 

“Look, I’m sorry that I took your position as singer and… well…” he flusters.

“You didn’t take her position as muse Sanji, she never had it. Zoro would write songs for her but he could never write with her. She envied Usopp because he wrote with Zoro sometimes. She would have killed to get from Zoro what you can with ease, she never had that harmony. She was always bad for him, personally _and_  creatively.” Robin’s voice says from behind him, her tone cold and menacing. Baby’s eyes widen and she takes a couple of unstable steps backwards. She’s clearly unnerved by Robin and when Sanji looks across to see the dangerous look on her face he can sort of see why. 

“I should have known you would be here.” Baby hisses with a glare at Robin.

“Well I am Usopp’s friend, unlike you. But don’t worry about it, you were never very bright.” Robin retorts icily. 

“Like I said to Sanji here, I’m not here to cause trouble. I just want to see-” She begins irritably.

“You’re not going to see anyone, now get out of here before I haul you out by your hair.” Robin snarls, her fists balling at her sides.

“Ah! Ladies! Surely that’s not necessary! We’re all reasonable here. I’m sure this was just a… a misunderstanding. I’ll walk you back to your car if you like Baby, no harm done, no need for anyone to hurt anyone else. Right?” He pleads, leaping between the two and looking hopefully at the scowling ladies. 

“I don’t care how you get rid of her, run her over with the van and dump her body in the woods if you have to, but get her gone.” Robin orders and turns on her heel and leaves to go back to the tent with Kaya in.

“You see what I mean? According to them I’m the devil, I don’t even get a chance to reason with any of them, they’ve hated me ever since I left the band. They used to be my friends.” Baby says sadly and Sanji feels a pang of sympathy for her. Even though she hurt Zoro so badly she was younger when it happened, and isn’t everyone allowed to make mistakes?

“I’m sorry, come on. Let me walk you back to your car.” He offers, holding out his elbow for her. 

Baby clutches at his arm silently and unsteadily walks with him back in the direction of her car. It’s a really pretty black and red convertible Volkswagen beetle, it’s really sweet and Sanji has to say that it suits her.

“This is yours? It’s really nice!” Sanji exclaims, looking at the car. 

“Thanks.” She says softly, leaning against the door of the car whilst she fishes in her purse for her keys. 

“Sanji. I’m sorry that I kept the truth from you about who I was before, and that I was so catty on the phone to you. I just knew that you’d go from being someone so nice to someone who hates me as soon as you knew who I was. And what can I say? Being reviled gets a little old. I just wanted someone to like me, even if only for a little bit.” She apologises with a sniffle. 

“Oh shit, my mascara is going to run.” She gasps, holding back a little sob as she tilts her face skywards to stop the tears from running. 

Sanji pulls a tissue out from an inside pocket and offers it to her which she gratefully takes and dabs at her eyes. 

“I don’t think that you’re evil. I just think that maybe you’re someone who made a few bad decisions when they were younger, that you fell out with someone you cared for and things just went badly. I don’t hate you, I just can’t let you in. I’m really sorry, I am.” He apologises sincerely, he does hate to see a lady cry like this. 

She sniffs and looks up at him with her big watery brown eyes, her bottom lip trembles a little and she leans in and hugs Sanji.

“Thank you, that means a lot.” She whimpers into his shoulder. He runs and hand down her back soothingly. 

“It’s okay.” He murmurs and strokes her hair. She is awfully pretty, despite everything that he knows he still can’t deny that, though he’s not as attracted to her as he was at their first meeting. Perhaps knowing what she did to break Zoro’s heart has turned him off of her somewhat. And, if he’s honest with himself, he’s more attracted to Zoro himself than to his ex-girlfriend. 

“Sanji, can I ask you a favour? Could… could you send me a photo of Zoro? I know he’ll look amazing in his suit and I just… I admit that I really wanted to see him today.” She asks hopefully. 

Sanji stares at her for a second and considers that she may have broken her own heart when she split up with Zoro too, he supposes that from her perspective she was trying to leave a band she was unhappy with and expected her boyfriend to support her, only for him to choose his friends over her. She lashed out in pain and everything ended so suddenly. It’s hardly an ending with a lot of closure and it’s not hard to imagine that she still has feelings for Zoro as much as he does for her. Perhaps she didn’t show up at the show just to hurt Zoro or to give him stage fright, perhaps she just showed up because she’s as messed up about him as he is over her. 

“I can put one on twitter if you like, it’s no problem.” He answers softly. 

“That would be great! Thank you so much Sanji you’re really kind, I’m glad you don’t hate me too.” Baby smiles at him. 

“Anyway, I’d better get going before Nami hears I’m here and comes out and murders me, she never liked me even when I was in the band.” She laughs a little hollowly and fishes her keys from her bag. She walks elegantly around to the driver’s side of her car, unlocks it and slides in. 

“Thank you Sanji.” She smiles at him through the rolled down window and pulls off.

Sanji watches her drive off into the distance and considers for a moment that perhaps she isn’t all bad. He really hopes that Zoro didn’t see her though. He sprints off back in the direction of the barn and spots Zoro emerging from the doors, Sanji is relieved, he got Baby away in time. 

“Hey! So the girls are all in there, does the officiant have to see Kaya now?” Sanji chirps cheerfully at him. 

“Yeah actually, I’ll send her that way. Uh… where were you?” Zoro questions, glancing across at Sanji with a curious look. 

“Just… taking care of something. I’m all yours now though, what do you need me to do?” he offers. 

“Could you help Chopper set up your mic without Usopp realising what you’re doing?” Zoro asks, gesturing inside the barn. 

Sanji nods in agreement and heads indoors. The inside of the barn has more of the beautiful wood from the beams with solid wooden flooring and antique looking wooden tables with white tablecloths covering them. Earlier the florists came in and placed the table decorations down, beautiful clear fish bowls with red gerberas floating in them and thin green grasses arcing around the shape of the bowls. The chairs and their decorations that Zoro had argued with the decorators over are all perfect, lined up in neat rows ready for the ceremony to take place in less than half an hour. 

Usopp is pacing around at the head of the chairs, near the altar. He’s reading through his written down vows over and over again. Not that he really has to remember, the officiant will read them out and Usopp will just have to repeat his parts when required. Even so the guy is so adorably worried about getting it wrong Sanji can’t help but find it endearing. With that being the case Sanji could probably prance right in front of him with his microphone, singing their song without Usopp noticing in the slightest. 

Still, he probably shouldn’t do that. 

The back wall behind the altar is criss-crossed with fairy lights which make the white mesh fabric behind them glow sweetly. Right now they’re set to white but later Zoro is going to get them to turn red for when the party kicks in later in the evening. Sanji slides behind the curtain and the lights and heads up the hidden staircase which leads upstairs to the audio area. 

Up here all of the audio equipment is set up and Chopper is sat on the floor elbow deep in wires and cables, his short, out of control brown hair curling around his oversized headphones. He’s plugged into his fancy mac laptop which has all of the music set up for the ceremony and for later too. 

“Hey, Zoro sent me up here to set up my mic with you for later.” Sanji says softly, kneeling down next to their resident child prodigy. 

“Yeah, he still won’t tell me what that’s about, he’s only told me to flick the microphone and guitar receiver on when he starts his speech. He won’t let me into his plan.” Chopper pouts up at Sanji, clearly hoping that his cute little face will persuade Sanji to let the cat out of the bag. It’s a good plan but it won’t work. 

“Sorry Chopper. So, what help do you need?” He asks. 

“None actually, since I brought my own laptop I was just able to port the mic settings over.” Chopper answers simply and returns his attention to his laptop and his fine crafting of the playlist for later. 

“Well, okay then. I guess I’ll go see if I’m needed elsewhere. Later Chopper.” Sanji shrugs and makes his way back down the stairs. Usopp is still fretting and Sanji decides that it’s probably best to just leave him to it and goes off to find Zoro. 

He finds the marimo secluded off by himself, peering through a window and watching guests arrive. The other groomsmen are welcoming the guests, the job which Zoro had assigned them to do at this point. Zoro himself looks far away and stressed out, so much so that Sanji almost wonders if he hadn’t got Baby out in time and Zoro is freaking out about that. 

“Hey.” He says softly, brushing his shoulder up against Zoro’s to get his attention. 

“Hey.” Zoro replies, his voice tight and tense. 

Sanji considers the best way to make Zoro relax. Coming right out and trying to comfort the other man will probably go badly, stupid Zoro would probably just get really snarky and defensive and then even more highly strung. A new tactic is in order then.

“So, I’m hoping for some inside information. I’m considering starting a pool with the others to work out what bit of today you’re going to screw up from being so nervous and I’m thinking that it’s gonna be the rings that you’ll lose or drop or something. But if you’ve got any idea about what you’re going to mess up I’d appreciate the tip.” Sanji smirks at the other man. 

Zoro blinks at him in shock before his face flashes anger.

“You… you asshole! I’m not gonna screw anything up! And I’m not nervous!” Zoro snarls at him. 

“That’s good to hear, cause you were looking pretty shaky just then but now you’re back to your normal self. Well, at least as much as a green haired weirdo like you can look.” He sniggers, reaching forward and ruffling Zoro’s aforementioned bizarre hair. He’s actually pleased to feel that the other man’s hair feels unusually smooth and soft, it’s also got more of a shine to it than usual. Sanji supposes that Zoro really did borrow his hair stuff this morning, it… it looks good on him. 

“Don’t think I don’t see your shallow plan to distract me.” Zoro mutters, glancing away from him. 

“Hey, you don’t use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. I don’t need a huge master plan to distract such a tiny mind.” Sanji boasts and laughs as Zoro shoves him irritably to the side. He’d be blind to miss the small smirk lingering on Zoro’s lips. That makes Sanji’s heart flutter in a way that holding Baby close to him earlier just didn’t. 

“Ass.” Zoro mumbles and heaves a big sigh. 

“Better go let these bastards in then, the officiant looks ready to kick things off.” Zoro notes as he spies the officiant walking out of the girl’s tent and towards the main building. 

“Good, cause Usopp looks like he might have a breakdown if he’s kept waiting too much longer.” Sanji notes, flicking his gaze across to the silently panicking keyboard player. 

“He’ll be fine. He’s braver than he thinks. Show people to their seats for me?” Zoro asks him. 

“You got it, like I said: I’m yours for the day. Anything I can do to help master.” He laughs, giving an exaggerated bow and exiting the barn. 

He heads out into the cobbled courtyard and along with his fellow bandmates he starts ushering Usopp and Kaya’s friends, colleagues and such into the barn. Soon enough they’re all settled into their seats with no one left standing and Sanji settles himself at the front of the room in his own chair with the other groomsmen at his side. Sanji finds himself struck with a moment of disorientation. Barely more than a month ago he had only ever dreamed of being in a band and didn’t even know these people. Now he’s helping to write songs, singing to packed out shows, he has a whole bunch of great new friends and he’s at the wedding of one of those new friends and as a groomsman no less! 

He looks up at Zoro standing so strong and sure by Usopp’s side at the altar, waiting for Kaya to come walking in. He looks so perfect like this and he’s once again overwhelmed by just how suddenly his feelings for this proud and talented man have come on. He should really be more wary of starting to get a crush like this on Zoro, but he’s sure that he can ignore it, not that he really has a choice. 

Suddenly Canon in D Major starts playing, Sanji knows well enough that it’s the music that’s supposed to appear as the bride enters. The room’s occupants all rise to their feet and turn to get a look of the frankly stunning Kaya. She looks gorgeous with her arm threaded through the elbow of the man who Sanji has been informed was her guardian as a child. 

Sanji pulls his eyes from Kaya to look up at Usopp. The keyboardist is staring at her with wide awestruck eyes and Sanji can see right then and there that all of his previous fear has evaporated. He can tell that Usopp has no idea what Kaya sees in him but that he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world but here getting married to her. There’s so much overwhelming love for her that Sanji suddenly feels exactly what Zoro was getting at with his song and he’s even more convinced that it’s the perfect summation of what Usopp feels for her.

He smiles as the officiant runs through a whole speech about the true meaning of marriage, about having the back of the person that you’ve committed to, about how you put them ahead of all others. She talks about the commitment that marriage is and that it should not be entered into lightly. Despite all his previous nerves Usopp doesn’t look at all scared, he looks calm and content. The officiant begins on the vows, first verifying Kaya and Usopp’s legal names and whether they are legally free to marry each other and though Sanji doubts that either of them has a secret husband or wife secreted around he supposes that they have to ask these sorts of things.

“Kaya, I promise to protect and care for you as you protect and care for me. I promise to put you ahead of all others and to be only yours.” Usopp repeats calmly and smoothly from what the officiant reads out. Sanji can’t help but stare, Usopp’s hands are calm and steady as they hold Kaya’s slightly trembling ones. Sanji finds it hard to believe that this guy that he knows who gets spooked by his own shadow and was all but climbing the walls in fear this morning is so completely calm. 

“I promise to love you, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.” Usopp repeats and quirks a small smile at Kaya, making her giggle softly. Zoro has told him already about how Usopp has already been with Kaya through a rather strong sickness, all of these things he’s already done. Sanji realises that Usopp is calm because really, this is just a practicality, he’s already committed to all of these things with her. The only difference is that he’s doing it legally now and in front of an audience. 

“I will celebrate your strengths and accept your flaws, knowing that you will be strong where I am weak so that I can be strong where you need me to be. From now onwards we face the world together.” Usopp nods. 

“Till death do us part.” The officiant prompts and Usopp repeats his line dutifully. 

Zoro is already ready with Kaya’s ring before the officiant even begins to prompt him. Usopp takes the perfect gold band from his best man and, on the officiant’s cue, slides it onto Kaya’s ring finger. Sanji is close enough to hear the little delighted gasp as he does so. 

The ceremony is now repeated with Kaya running through the same lines, her expression is wide and beaming and she’s all but bouncing on her toes with barely restrained happiness. When it’s her turn Zoro passes her Usopp’s ring and she slides the matching gold band onto Usopp’s finger. 

Sanji sees Zoro visibly relax as his opportunity to lose or drop the rings and mess up that part of his job is completely passed. 

“Does any person here present know of any reason why this frankly sickeningly sweet couple cannot be wedded here today?” The officiant smiles teasingly, looking around the room. Kaya and Usopp both giggle but Sanji finds himself tense, quickly glancing behind him to check that Baby hasn’t gone against her word and returned just to ruin this moment. Out of the corner of his eye he sees that Robin is similarly tense. However the moment passes uneventfully. Sanji breathes a sigh of quiet relief.

“In that case, I now declare you man and wife. You may now kiss the- oh!” The officiant exclaims as Kaya launches herself forwards into Usopp’s arms, her arms wrapping around Usopp’s neck as she kisses him with an excited little squeak. He can hear Usopp laugh in his chest as he spins his new bride around once before placing her carefully back on the floor where she lets him go with an embarrassed giggle.

The whole room leaps to their feet, whooping and cheering, some people crying and almost everyone trying to take pictures. Sanji is definitely not tearing up. He is not crying. He has fucking allergies dammit. Honest. 

Shit, even Usopp wouldn’t tell a lie that bad. 

Zoro flicks him and the other groomsmen a look and they all leap into action, herding the happy couple and all of the guests outside for photographs. The next half hour is spent dispersing and fetching various friend groups, groomsmen, bridesmaids, family friends and so on in and out of shots like they’re at some goddamn organised sheepdog trials. In fairness as Sanji darts around three small kids with stupid looking hair as he tries to herd them into a shot with Kaya and her white fluffy haired family friend who gave her away, and has more than a passing resemblance to a sheep himself, he’s not sure that the description isn’t apt. 

By the time everyone has to be in shot and rose petal confetti is thrown and champagne given to everyone as the final group photo is taken Sanji is totally ready to neck his glass of fizz. 

After that the groomsmen, the groom, the bride and bridesmaids are all taken off into the idyllic woodlands nearby. There’s an old cart track that runs through the woodlands with gorgeous old trees growing on either side, dappled leaf-tinted sunlight filters down and gives the whole place a kind of fairytale feel to it. 

Kaya and her bridesmaids are off to walk down there first on the photographer’s instructions as a way of getting some pretty nature shots in there and a show of how the lovely ladies interact with each other on film. 

“Hey, thanks.” Zoro murmurs to him, as Sanji pulls his eyes away from the ladies to look at the best man. 

“You’re welcome.” Sanji answers, slightly puzzled. 

“I mean it, you’ve been helping me keep that lot in line as much as you have the guests. You’ve been running me around like crazy in your car the last three days and with the speech and everything… You really didn’t have to. So thanks.” Zoro says honestly as Luffy scrambles up a tree behind them and Franky tries to climb up it to get him down. 

“Don’t thank me yet, the day’s not over after all.” Sanji reminds him, flicking a concerned glance as Franky pulls Luffy down by the scruff of the neck. 

“You don’t get a choice, asshole. I’m thanking you now.” Zoro scowls, snagging him closer by his waistcoat pocket. 

Sanji looks at him then, really looks at him. He realises that Zoro is trying incredibly hard to actually express his gratitude and he realises that this perhaps is not something that comes easily to the guitarist and he should really be paying more attention. Zoro’s eyes are slightly downcast, not quite making eye contact with Sanji and his cheeks are dusted with a pale blush. 

“You’re welcome, idiot. And your tie is crooked, come here.” Sanji mutters, his own face reddening a little. He pulls the incredibly attractive best man closer by the tie and sets to straightening it, Zoro’s hand still lingering in Sanji’s jacket pocket. 

“You’d better be careful you know, if you keep being this nice to me I might actually get the impression that you like me.” He teases softly, smoothing Zoro’s tie over and tucking the smaller tail of it into the label on the back. 

“I do like you.” Zoro answers him quietly, his eyes suddenly locking with Sanji’s and shooting sparks through Sanji’s entire system. Is Zoro pulling him closer or is he just stepping closer of his own free will? 

“Zoro…” Sanji breathes, his heart catching in his throat. God, he’s so close, he could just lean forward, close the distance between them and-

The sound of a camera shutter clicking springs them apart like magnets and the two of them stare at the second photographer who is grinning right at them, her camera pointed at the two of them. 

“Oh please, don’t mind me, that was a good photo. Oops, gotta go!” She chirps, dashing past them and back after her colleague photographing the bridesmaids. 

“LUFFY STOP CLIMBING THE TREES!” Zoro snaps, moving past Sanji.

“Brook, come back here!” Sanji yelps, seeing Brook starting to wander off into the woodlands. The two of them separate as if that… moment had never happened. Sanji can’t help his mind spinning about just what that photo is going to look like though and what Zoro might say when he sees it. He forces his face to stop blushing already and retrieves Brook. 

Kaya, Robin and Nami return from up the woodland path and smiles and laughter and then it’s the turn of the guys. All of them head off down the path. It feels rather silly just wandering down whilst the photographers snap pictures of them walking away. He supposes that it looks cool from the photographer’s point of view but it just feels kinda dumb walking down a path only to turn around and walk back. Sanji loiters at the edge of the group, deliberately staying away from Zoro after their earlier… moment. Or maybe it’s all in Sanji’s head, who knows. 

By the time that the photos are done the wedding breakfast is starting to be laid out and the groomsmen all have to split up to show people to their seats and get everyone settled. Whilst they were out the staff at the venue had moved the chairs out of their aisle formation and placed them around round antique wooden tables with white thick cotton table cloths on them. The cutlery and table decorations that Zoro had been having to run around and see people about so regularly lately were all perfect and as it should be. It doesn’t take too long before the venue’s staff start bringing drinks and dishes out to all of the sat down guests. 

Sanji is seated at Zoro’s side on the long top table, a place that he would feel uncomfortable having if he didn’t know precisely why he was at Zoro’s side. He feels for the microphone hidden underneath the table near his knee, Chopper knows enough to have put it there but he doesn’t know exactly why. Zoro had ordered one of the venue staff to put his precious white guitar under the table too. Sanji reaches out and feels the wooden fretboard of Zoro’s precious guitar, he runs his fingers down the strings, his nails scraping lightly over them. 

He pulls his hand back up under the table and forces down the flutter of nerves in his belly as his starter is placed in front of him. It’s a nice dish, asparagus and poached egg. Even so he can’t quite focus on it as he’s really worried about whether or not the song will go down well or whether people will just stare at them and wonder what the hell they’re doing. He’s wondering if Zoro’s kind of tricked him here, the man was supposed to be doing a speech and now he’s singing in his place whilst Zoro just has to play his guitar. 

The main course arrives, chilli chicken with dauphinoise potatoes and green vegetables. Dessert quickly follows though Sanji doesn’t have much appetite for it as it means that it’s quickly counting down the time to when he has to sing. He still eats it of course because it would be simply wasteful not to and he was always brought up better than to leave food if he can eat it. 

Eventually everyone has finished their desserts and the staff are bringing around glasses of champagne for the toasts and speeches. 

“Here goes nothing.” Zoro mutters to Sanji. Sanji surreptitiously grabs the microphone from under the table as Zoro stands up. The guitarist hushes the guests who all turn to him expectantly.   

“So… this is the part where I’m supposed to do my best man speech.” Zoro starts a little awkwardly.

“I tried for the longest time to come up with something, some kind of long speech or story about how my best friend found the girl of his dreams but I couldn’t come up with anything. Which is pretty embarrassing for someone who writes for a living.” Zoro smiles and the guests laugh lightly. 

“Sanji tried to help me out and he asked me to tell him what I would write if I was trying to do a song for them, just to throw ideas around. And, well… I’m sure all of you here know about Usopp’s tendency for… stretching the truth…” Zoro grins, that gets quite a few knowing laughs and grins from the people around the room.

“Oh god, where is this going?” Usopp moans at Zoro’s side, making Sanji laugh. 

“Come on, he’s your best man, he has to tease you!” Kaya giggles to Usopp. Sanji grins at them and remembers just why he’s doing this, because Zoro loves his best friend and he’s happy for the love his friends have. 

“The thing is with all of Usopp’s stories and exaggerations… he would actually live up to his word for Kaya, and she’s the only person in the world that he’d do that for. That’s how I know that he loves her.” Zoro says softly, drawing a chorus of ‘aww’s from the guests. 

Sanji looks up at Zoro in his gorgeous green shirt and waistcoat and feels his own heart flutter. His feelings for Zoro, and he’s having a real hard time denying that there are real feelings there and not just lust. Those feelings don’t compare to what Usopp and Kaya have, but they’re still strong and he’s happy to do what Zoro needs him to if it makes him happy. 

Suddenly, he’s not so nervous anymore. 

“So… we wrote a song instead of a speech, so… I hope you two like it.” Zoro says hesitantly and reaches below the table as Sanji pulls Zoro’s precious guitar closer to him.

Zoro slides the strap over his shoulder and starts to play as Sanji switches his mic on. He lets his eyes flutter shut and remembers his friends sweet vows, he remembers just how much Zoro wanted this to go perfectly and reminds himself of how determined he is to not let Zoro down. 

The tune is beautifully acoustic and maybe Sanji is imagining it but it feels like he can tell that this guitar is Zoro’s favourite. He can’t help but tap his foot along to the music and it actually lends a nice beat to it so he keeps it going. His part to sing comes up and he takes a deep breath and begins, keeping his voice clear and almost conversational.

“ _My ancestors planted some sequoias by a road_

_I've driven down that road since I was born_

_Oh, never have you ever seen so many perfect evergreens_

_But I would chop them all down just for you_

_I have walked a million miles in a hundred pairs of shoes_

_In search of some universal truth_

_Well a deity just came to me and handed me a scroll to read_

_And I will gladly pass it on to you.”_

Sanji glances to Kaya with a smile and she seems to get that he’s singing this as Usopp, so to speak. To Sanji’s relief the audience don’t look confused or shocked at their sudden burst into song, in fact they all look interested and delighted, it’s going well after all!

“ _Anything for you_

_All of this is true_

_But the best story that I could ever tell_

_Is the one where I am growing old with you.”_

Zoro is starting to join in with him now, not singing words but harmonising a tune. It wasn’t planned but once again the two of them seem to exist on the same musical wavelength, he trusts Zoro to sing with him, to balance him out where it’s needed. 

“ _I was having rotten luck and nothing went my way_

_'Til I stumbled on a clearing in the woods._

_I found a town of leprechauns and grabbed each one for wishing on_

_But I would let them all go just for you._

_I have crossed a natural plane and communed with the dead_

_But people always seem to want some proof._

_No one even would believe, my love, that evil I got pictures of_

_But I would throw them all out just for you._

_Anything for you_

_All of this is true_

_But the best story that I could ever tell_

_Is the one where I am growing old with you”_

The energy of the song picks up and Zoro’s guitar comes into it’s own, plucking the tune out perfectly. Sanji’s eyes flutter shut and he only just manages to contain the wistful sigh and Zoro’s amazing talent and the soul shattering noises that he can pull from that instrument. 

“ _My scar is from a polar bear, my curse is from a witch,_

_I've caught a giant squid in all the seven seas._

_I've picked up rocks from distant moons astronomers will discover soon_

_But I would give them all back just for you._

_I've gotten drunk and shot the breeze with kings of far off lands_

_They showed me wealth as far as I could see._

_But their kingdoms seemed all shrivelly and they cried with jealousy_

_When I leaned in and told them about you._

_I'd give up anything_

_Anything for you_

_I'd give it all_

_All of this is true_

_But the best story that I could ever tell_

_Is the one where I am growing old with you._

_All I've ever wanted, see, was to tell you honestly_

_I'd do anything for you._

_I'd do absolutely anything for you.”_

The room is quiet for just a beat as Zoro’s guitar hums out the last note. There’s a mere second of silence, practically not even that, before the room completely erupts into applause. Usopp throws himself at Zoro, wrapping his arms around Zoro’s neck and incoherently sobbing into the other man’s shirt. 

“I love you man!” Usopp wails, muffled through the expensive fabric. Zoro mumbles something into Usopp’s shirt that sounds suspiciously sentimental and the kind of thing that Sanji really shouldn’t be eavesdropping on. 

Kaya thoroughly distracts him by sneaking behind Zoro to catch him in a hug. 

“That was beautiful. Thank you so much for that.” She smiles at him sweetly. 

“I just lent my voice, Zoro did almost all of the writing. I just asked dumb questions and wrote stuff down.” Sanji says bashfully, his face reddening. 

“I’m sure you did more than that.” She smiles knowingly, though what she knows Sanji has no idea. 

They sit down together and share a relieved grin, they did it and it worked great! 

“Well… thanks Zoro. How’s a girl supposed to top that?” Nami exclaims, standing up with a laugh as her speech begins. 

The rest of the evening goes flawlessly, one thing that their friends know how to do is how to have a party. Zoro finally relaxes as the rest of the evening runs its course. The happy couple share a dance, they cut their cake and Usopp gets a fair amount of it in his face and to Sanji’s glee almost everyone seems to get a photo of that. The one which he catches on his phone he thinks he might print off and frame it’s so brilliant. The keyboard player’s eyes are wide as Kaya’s hand smears a great handful of cake and frosting across his cheek with his mouth open in what Sanji recalls to be a particularly girly shriek. 

The drinks flow freely and all of them start getting at least a little drunk, he even spies Nami and Zoro having a drinking contest over by the bar, one which shows no sign of either side losing or admitting defeat. He’s more than a little merry when Kaya catches him into a dance, he obliges her of course. He’d be crazy to deny such a pretty lady anything, much less someone as important as a bride. 

He holds her close and dances with her, one hand in the small of her back and the other holding her slender hand. He takes a moment to admire her pretty new ring, just looking at it makes her break into happy giggles. 

“I’m really glad that you came tonight Sanji.” She smiles up at him. 

“I’m delighted to have been invited! I hadn’t been expecting an invitation having met you only so recently.” He admits happily. 

“Nonsense, you’re a member of the band, which makes you family as far as I’m concerned. You know that being part of this band is more than just a job, it’s a bond.” She says wisely. 

“I’m starting to understand that.” He smiles and twirls her around the floor.

“You’re such a gentleman Sanji.” Kaya giggles as he pulls her back in again and moves into a smooth waltz. 

“Of course my lady!” He chirps happily. 

He’s interrupted as Luffy, Franky and Zoro stampede past them. He raises an eyebrow when he sees that Zoro has his black and red electric guitar in hand and Luffy is bouncing around with his drumsticks. 

“Uh oh. What are those idiots up to?” he mutters eyeing them. The three musicians leap up on stage and burst into a slightly drunk but very enthusiastic rendition of one of Franky’s songs. It’s one of Franky’s in that it’s one that he and Zoro wrote together and one that Sanji flatly refuses to sing. It’s a certain level of silly that he’s simply not willing to go into, singing like a robot included.

The song is funny as hell. Some strange imagining of some cyborg robot war accompanied by Luffy and Zoro singing along with crazed gusto. Zoro just loves it for the chance to play heavy and fast guitar to his heart’s content. Sanji watches in a considerable amount of awe as Zoro’s fingers run like crazy over the fretboard, making his instrument sing perfectly despite being more than a little drunk. 

Zoro leans against Franky’s back as the larger man belts out the ridiculous lyrics and Zoro shreds notes out at unbelievable speed. 

“ _Your iron fist will never knock me down,_

‘ _cause I’m powered,_

_by a conscious right to conduct my life without fear._

_Your tyranny burns my circuitry,_

_And I won’t stand by,_

_I know my rights and I will fight, fight, fight,_

_YEEEEEEEAH!”_

“See what I mean?” Usopp’s voice appears at their side. Sanji glances over to see Usopp having appeared by Kaya’s side as the pair of them smile and look at each other. Sanji looks back up at Zoro who is currently on the receiving end of an overly strong and overly enthusiastic slap on the back courtesy of a rather drunk Franky. 

“You’re right, Sanji does.” Kaya giggles, drawing Sanji’s attention back. 

“I what?” He asks in confusion. 

“Nothing man. I’m gonna go…” Usopp trails off, heading towards the stage.

“Go. Play. Have fun. Love you.” Kaya laughs, shooing him off in the right direction. Usopp laughs and runs into the stage as well. 

“What do I do?” Sanji repeats, looking at Kaya.

“Just a little theory that Usopp and I have.” Kaya says innocently and completely unhelpfully. 

“Oh?” He says, raising a curious eyebrow. 

“Usopp tells me everything you see. And I think he’s right about this. You look at Zoro like Usopp looks at me. Or at least how he used to when he was too shy to tell me how he felt. You’re in love with Zoro.” She states matter-of-factly. 

“I- What?!” He squeaks in horror. 

“Ah! It’s rude to lie to a bride, and probably bad luck too or something. If you want to deny it just keep silent. We’re not going to say anything to him of course, and I wouldn’t advise you to say anything to him tonight either. It’s just an observation of ours.” Kaya says shushing Sanji by putting her hand over his mouth. 

“But Kaya…” He starts, taking her hand away. 

“Don’t. We both like you, and we think you’re good for Zoro. He’s been happier and more creative since you’ve come around. Don’t think that we haven’t noticed how much you’ve done for him. You helped him write a real love song, and I know it was for us but I saw your body language around him when you sang. You’d do anything for him just as much as Usopp would for me.” She smiles knowingly at him. 

“Sanji! C’mon, I need you. Can’t sing remember, move it!” Zoro exclaims suddenly at his side, making Sanji leap about a foot in the air. He looks at the pink cheeked grinning guitarist and with some relief surmises that Zoro hadn’t heard Kaya’s disturbing words. 

“Move it, idiot!” Zoro orders him, threading his fingers through Sanji’s and hauling him away from the smiling Kaya and up on stage. Sanji is shoved in the direction of the microphone as Zoro grabs up his own guitar and begins playing. 

Zoro’s lucky that Sanji knows all of their songs off by heart from their intros because he’s not been told what Zoro was planning on playing at all. As it is they all launch into a rendition of “The Future Freaks Me Out”. They run through a few more songs before it becomes clear that Franky is becoming too drunk to keep up with the guitar playing on his end at which point they all disperse and let Chopper get back to DJ-ing. 

The happy couple start making their rounds of all the guests at about eleven, they have a plane to catch for their honeymoon after all. Kaya has changed into something a little more comfortable for her flight, a pretty purple silk top and designer jeans. Before they go however Kaya has to toss her bouquet. Sanji makes sure to be well out of the way of all of the girls who have lined up ready to try to catch it. Sanji is well aware of the tradition that the lucky girl to catch the bouquet will be the next one married, which is why he’s standing sensibly well out of the way with the other groomsmen. The last one any of them want to do is to get mauled by some over excited girl trying to catch herself some flowers and a husband. 

“Okay! Just a second!” Kaya laughs, looking over her shoulder quickly at she turns her back on the ladies, preparing to throw. Usopp has his arms on her elbow and appears to be whispering something in her ear as he pulls her slightly in one direction, facing him a little more. Sanji smiles at the couple, Usopp is probably whispering some sweet nothing to his new bride, whatever he’s saying is certainly making her giggle as she glances over her shoulder once more at the girls behind her. 

She throws the bouquet up into the air and Sanji watches as the flowers arc up into the air under the watchful eyes of all of the bridesmaids and the female guests. He gasps as the flowers hits the chandelier and spins off to the side, causing all of the female guests to lurch to the side after it. The bouquet bounces off of one of the ceiling beams and seems to hang for just a second.

“The glasses!” Zoro gasps at Sanji’s side, true enough if the flowers fall to the side they’ll certainly set off a chain reaction through the tower of champagne glasses stacked on the table by the wall. Zoro shoves him hard in the back and they sprint the few paces to the champagne tower whilst the female guests cluster under the ceiling beam trying to see which way the precariously teetering flowers will fall. In a tangle of limbs the two of them cover the glass tower. 

They breathe a sigh of relief as the flowers tip the other way right into the awaiting outstretched arms of the ladies. Robin leaps up and grabs for the bouquet, but her hand doesn’t manage to grasp around the stems of the flowers and instead she ends up smacking it like a volleyball. Unfortunately she’s smacking it right in the direction of the glass tower. He and Zoro jump at the same time. Sanji’s flailing hands manage to slow down the projectile flowers and unfortunately he manages to smack Zoro right in the face with them, leaving the guitarist dazed in a small rainfall of gerbera petals. 

Sanji fumbles and stills the dangerous projectile that is the bridal bouquet. It’s then that he realises his rather… compromising position. He’s pressed flush against Zoro who is looking at him dazed, admittedly from getting a smack to the head with a bunch of flowers. His legs are caught up with Zoro’s with his thigh shoved between Zoro’s legs as he leans pressed into Zoro’s hip himself. On top of all of this improper closeness he also happens to have the bride’s bouquet in his hands.

“So CUTE!” One of the female guests squeaks, causing him and Zoro to leap apart in embarrassed shock, nearly knocking over the champagne glasses themselves in their haste. Scarlett faced Sanji looks across at all the women who had been actually trying to catch the bouquet. Behind them stand Usopp and Kaya with identical broad grins, he watches as they grin at each other and share a not so subtle high five. Sanji realises in horror that there was nothing accidental about that throw at all. 

“Aww, look at them!” Another girl giggles.

“You’re bright red Sanji!” Nami laughs from amid the girls and snaps a quick picture of him.

“Kaya!” He pleads, holding up the bouquet. 

“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly throw again, it’s bad luck!” Kaya laughs shaking her head and holding up her hands. Sanji thinks that it’s very likely that Kaya made that up, though he would never accuse a lady and much less a bride of such a thing. Even if it is probably accurate. 

“I think you’ll make a very pretty bride, you’ll look lovely in a dress.” Zoro snickers at him, his cheeks flushed with drink. 

“AS IF!” He shrieks indignantly and punches Zoro in the shoulder, making the other man laugh. 

Sanji has to endure jokes about him being the next bride all the way through the night and no matter how much he tries to “lose” the bouquet people keep returning it to him. Eventually he just gives up and keeps the thing. 

He and Zoro stay behind, helping the staff clear up, seeing off the last guests and helping Chopper to put their equipment in the van again. Unfortunately they are both too drunk to drive home and the van was too full to take them. 

The two of them sit outside on a wooden bench, illuminated by the full moon and the soft fairy lights in the little hedges and hung in the rafters above them. It really is a magical and romantic place, perfect for a wedding. 

“See, told you it’d all go perfectly.” Sanji says quietly to Zoro, leaning against his shoulder as he runs his thumb along the soft gerbera petals. It really is a pretty bunch of flowers, he’ll have to remember to put them in a vase when he gets home. 

“Yeah, it was just what I wanted.” Zoro sighs happily, his eyes shut as he leans against the back of the bench. 

“I’m so happy that the best couple I know of got the perfect day.” He adds with a small smile on his lips. 

“Well you worked hard for it.” Sanji agrees.

The two of them lapse back into silence and the sounds of the woodlands at night start to fill the air. The sound of the wind whispering through the trees, of the nighttime insects coming alive, crickets chirping and a distant owl softly hooting to its mate somewhere in the trees. Sanji falls into a sort of semi drunk trance, listening to the night-time sounds, so much so that he almost doesn’t hear Zoro speak. 

“Do you think everyone gets that?” Zoro asks quietly.

“Gets what?” Sanji asks in confusion. 

“Someone like Kaya, a soul mate.” Zoro says softly. 

Sanji looks at Zoro a little startled, this kind of romantic talk is unlike Zoro, at least beyond the realm of discussing how Usopp feels for Kaya. He supposes that the moss head is a little drunk after all though and sometimes drunk people are a little emotional. 

“I just think that if there is just one person then… most people probably never meet them. And people who aren’t as lucky as Kaya and Usopp… we just end up making do with someone who’ll have us.” Zoro says with more than just a hint of sadness in his voice. 

“I don’t think it’s as simple as that. I think people just fall in love. I don’t think you can just fall in love with anyone though, but I also don’t think there’s just one person who could love you. You shouldn’t have to settle at all, you’ll get someone who… who looks at you like Usopp looks at Kaya.” Sanji answers him, leaning his head against Zoro’s shoulder. He hopes that Zoro can’t see how much Sanji’s face has gone red, or hear how hard his heart is hammering. 

He remembers Kaya’s words and those white hot flares of heat in his chest. He’s… he’s attracted to Zoro and… it’s not just that any more. 

“Well where are they then?” Zoro sighs despondently. 

Sanji bites his lip and feels his heart hammer in his throat. Zoro sounds so lost and heartbroken, just hearing him makes Sanji’s heart positively ache. He thinks it, but he doesn’t say it. 

‘ _I’m right here…’_

The taxi shows up then and, without a further word on their strange conversation, they fall into the car and slump together sleepily as they are driven home. 

When they get back to their house they go inside the silent building of sleeping people, navigating their way up all of the stairs in the pre-dawn light shining through the windows. He has his arm around Zoro’s shoulders and Zoro has his curled around the small of Sanji’s back, his hand resting on Sanji’s hip. 

They walk wordlessly into their shared bathroom and Sanji sits on the edge of the bath to brush his teeth whilst Zoro washes his face, the layers of makeup washing off in with the soap. A thought occurs to him.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you something earlier. I thought you’d want to know, but I didn’t want to tell you at the time, you were too stressed.” He says around his toothbrush. 

“That’s pretty suspicious.” Zoro says and splashes his face with water and rubs gingerly around the bridge of his nose. 

“I know Robin wouldn’t want me to tell you at all, but I thought you should know. I don’t like lying to you. Baby showed up right after Kaya did, tried to get into the wedding. I got her to leave and Robin scared her off too.” Sanji says around his toothbrush. 

He looks around, Zoro’s occupying the sink so he can’t spit his toothpaste out there. Ah, to hell with it. He spits into the bath and figures he’ll rinse the tub out tomorrow. He looks back up at Zoro who is still and staring at his own reflection in the mirror. His hand ghosts over the cut in his nose. 

“Thank you for getting rid of her. I really owe you for that. I wouldn’t… I couldn’t have dealt with that.” He says flat and emotionless. 

“S’okay.” Sanji yawns and rinses his toothbrush off under the bath tap. 

“And thanks… for telling me.” Zoro adds, looking at him. 

“No problem. Hey, you look a lot better. Let me see.” Sanji says, catching Zoro. He tilts Zoro’s jaw and carefully runs his thumb over the healed skin. 

“Much better, a few days and you’ll never know anything happened. Now, try to avoid big people in bars who want to hurt you yeah? I don’t like seeing you all banged up.” He smiles at the guitarist. 

“Now clear out, I gotta piss. Then the bathroom’s all yours. I feel like I could sleep for a week.” He yawns, his jaw clicking with the force of it. He herds Zoro from the room and locks the door. Once he’s done he lets Zoro back in and shuts his own door after him, clumsily strips naked and falls face down into his bed and straight into sleep. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The songs are, in order:
> 
> Anything for You by Ludo
> 
> Cyborgs vs Robots by Ludo
> 
> The Future Freaks Me Out by Motion City Soundtrack


	9. Chapter 9

Sanji awakes the morning after the wedding with a slight hangover. The beer and wine were both good and pretty clean in terms of preservative chemicals which are the real things that give you a hangover. Even so he’d drunk a fair bit.

He doesn’t… think that he was drunk last night. He grabs his phone blearily off of his night stand and peers at it owlishly just to check things. 

He flicks open his image folder to see a range of self-taken photos, him with various people last night and a few shots of the venue itself. Nothing horribly embarrassing though, merely pictures of him looking a bit more rosy cheeked than normal, his smile a little wider and sloppier as the evening progresses. His email however has exploded, he flicks that open and sees a tonne of things with the word twitter in the title. He really needs to turn off those notifications, every time someone messages him or mentions him he gets and email and really it’s getting a little old. 

He opens twitter to see what the hell is going on. 

He is greeted with a much retweeted picture of him at the wedding, pressed up against Zoro, riding his thigh by the looks of it too. The bouquet is in his hands, clutched tight to his chest. He and Zoro are staring wide eyed at each other and completely oblivious to the world around them and especially to whomever took this picture. Shit, the number of retweets for this thing is in the hundreds. 

He isn't really sure what to make of the picture. On the one hand embarrassment is the natural reaction, the moment of flailing for that goddamn bouquet had been embarrassing enough without someone capturing it on film for all eternity. However the picture does present him with a unique opportunity to examine his and Zoro's reactions to the situation at his leisure, something he could hardly do at the time.

First himself. His eyes are wide and locked right on Zoro's, thankfully he's not gawping at the other man's mouth for a kiss or anything but the eye contact itself is pretty intimate. His face is stained with embarrassment and, as he recalls, an aroused blush. To his reassurance though Zoro appears to be every bit as red across his face, the tips of his ears pinking delightfully. However, he can't tell whether Zoro's blush is from mortification at their position in front of such a large audience or whether it's due to the same heart fluttering interest that Sanji had been experiencing. Okay, that he's still experiencing. 

He rolls back onto his back with a sigh and throws his arm over his eyes. He tries to think. Zoro is... attractive and talented, he has no problems admitting that to himself. He can also concede that Zoro holds his attention far more than he reasonably should and that perhaps his fascination with the other man is more than a mere crush. Usopp and Kaya certainly seemed to think so, if he wasn't mistaken Luffy was also hinting something of the sort. 

All of them seemed to be hinting at that particular “L” word that Sanji had in the past always been so much in avoidance of. Oh sure, he loved the idea of love and he wasn't above flinging out declarations of love to pretty girls left right and centre. However, when he was in a real relationship the word in question was carefully avoided. As a singer he knows all too well that words have power and a word like love should not be used lightly in any context where it could be taken seriously. He loves love and he respects it. He also avoids using it in his head when it comes to partners, actual or potential. He doesn't want to trick himself into falling in love if it's not the real thing. There's nothing wrong with being mutually attracted to someone, to dating someone but not being in love with them, that kind of thing took time sometimes. What was wrong was to delude yourself or someone else into thinking that love was there when it wasn't. 

But with Zoro... It feels wrong to put his feelings for the musician into the purely platonic, and it certainly feels amiss to write it off as just a crush or a passing obsession. Does that mean that he's in love with Zoro then? He chews on his lip and remembers the feeling when Zoro was writing and playing for him, that pure magic of creation that Zoro had dragged him in by the scruff of his neck and submersed him into. That had felt like nothing else ever had. The show had been the same, as if some current was connecting their souls and he was entirely on Zoro's wavelength.

It's amazing, it feels like a once in a lifetime thing for sure. But is that really love? Perhaps he is just Zoro's muse, Zoro might well be his for all the creativity which he’s brought out in Sanji that he'd only dreamed of possessing before. That was a very special kind of bond and he'd really hate to lose it by being so stupid as to assume it's love when it's not. 

His phone pings with another retweet which sets of a short cascade of further sharing of the damned picture. He silences his phone and switches off the alerts. 

He remembers that he was meant to put a picture of Zoro up on twitter for Baby as part of his deal to make her leave. He hadn’t really considered if he was going to hold to that but even if he had this would not have been the picture that he chose. 

Shit, if she really was torn up about Zoro then this picture would hardly help. This is really beyond insensitive. Not that it’s his picture or that he can stop people from posting it over and over again. There’s just nothing that he can do. 

More importantly, what is Zoro going to say about all of this? 

He may as well get it over with. 

He dresses and heads out into the hallway. Zoro’s bedroom door is open but he’s not in there, Sanji squints at his bed and spots Zoro’s waistcoat from last night thrown across it, something Zoro did as they came up the stairs and into the bathroom. So… either Zoro threw it back on top of the bed, unlikely, or Zoro hasn’t slept in that bed all night. That option is more likely and more concerning. He peeks around the door, the rest of Zoro’s fancy suit is scattered about and his wardrobe is open. Hm. 

He checks the kitchen in case Zoro is in there and is surprised to note that it’s clean. All of the washing up from yesterday is put away and the washing which still had to be done has been completed. 

The room has the tang of cleaner to it and Sanji opens the oven on a hunch and finds it sparkling clean. 

“ _I’m sick of the things I do when I’m nervous,_

_Like cleaning the oven or checking my tyres.”_

He sings under his breath. Zoro’s own words about his anxiety. 

His suspicion levels rising he goes into the garage and indeed finds the tyre pump out of place and Zoro’s bike sat somewhere different to where it was last night. Still no Zoro though. Where else might he be?

“ _Or counting the number of tiles in the ceiling.”_  He sings the next line. Shit, where might that be?

He thinks of tiles on the ceiling and it occurs to him that the only place that he can think of is the music studio. Shit, why didn’t he check there first? 

He opens the door to the music room when he sees Zoro draped across his bean bag staring up at the ceiling, it doesn’t even cross his mind that Zoro could be avoiding him. Zoro does indeed appear to have been staring blankly up at the ceiling, he's not even playing any of his guitars, or writing, at least he doesn't appear to be at any rate. 

“So, you're all anxious huh? What about?” He asks, coming closer to Zoro. He looks down at him and despite the make up on his face he can see that Zoro's eyes have dark circles under that indicate pretty strongly that the other man has not slept yet. If Zoro wasn't being all anxious Sanji might have just put it down to garden variety insomnia or left over excitement from the wedding. 

“Fuck off, it's none of your business!” Zoro snaps, swatting in his vague direction.

There is a moment's pause for thought from Zoro.

“And I'm not anxious!” He adds irritably. 

“Well, I think you are. It may well be none of my business, and that's fine I guess. But don't go saying that you aren't when you are, that's how I found you. Followed your own lyrics here. Thanks for the clean oven too.” He adds with a smirk and just for demonstration sings through the song lines in question. 

Zoro's mouth pulls down into a grimace that suggests very much that he regrets writing that song. 

“So, do you want to talk about it?” He asks curiously.

“No.” Zoro answers him firmly. 

“I figured you'd be the one all highly strung this morning, or haven't you seen the Internet explosion yet?” Zoro responds instead. Deflecting, Sanji notes. 

“Eh. It's kind of a compromising photo I guess, especially now that I know your ex stalks you on twitter. Or all of us perhaps.” Sanji sighs, sitting down on the floor. Zoro stays staring up at the ceiling, his brow furrowed. 

“How'd you find that out?” Zoro asks him. 

“She told me. Got me to promise to upload a picture of you in order to make her leave yesterday. Wasn't sure if I was going to or not, I was going to talk to you about it before I did anything but I guess that's kind of a moot point now. Probably not the picture she wanted.” Sanji snorts, finding himself incredibly curious as to what her reaction might be. 

Instead he watches Zoro's. The other man's brow furrows further, as if some incredibly unpleasant idea is running through that hollow head of his. 

“I doubt that it was.” He says quietly, and nothing more. 

Sanji debates with himself back and forth for a moment. He decides he'll be straight with Zoro, lying to him or omitting certain information wasn't a basis for a good relationship of any kind and it probably would do him no favours in the long run. Even so...

“I don't know if you want to hear this. But... when I was talking to Baby yesterday... I got the impression that she's probably not over you. She seemed as snarled up inside about you as you seem to be about her. Which... isn't to say that I think you two should get back together or anything. I just... thought you ought to know.” He says carefully. 

Zoro doesn't say anything, instead he sits up on his bean bag and looks at Sanji properly for the first time that day. He makes total eye contact in a way that simply pins Sanji to where he's sat, he gets the feeling that Zoro is assessing him. Stripping him bare so to speak- uh, wait, he shouldn't be thinking that. Bad metaphor. Whatever. Zoro seems to be looking right into him, as if weighing up what Sanji has said and trying to work out just why he said it. 

“No one's said that to me before.” Zoro says, slow and carefully neutral. His sharp gaze is still on Sanji. 

“Don't get me wrong, I'm not impartial here. I thought Baby was nice when she was the girl I met in the coffee shop, but having heard what she did to you and seen what she can do to you... Well... I think you deserve honesty and to know what's going on, but that doesn't mean that I'd be throwing a party for you if you ended up getting back together with her. Frankly the idea gives me the creeps.” Sanji states flatly. 

“So why tell me?” Zoro asks curiously.

“Cause otherwise I'd be sneaking around behind your back, that's not cool. Besides, you're a grown ass man, you make your own decisions. Least I can do is give you all the information that I know.” He sighs, scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably. 

He's glad that he doesn't look away though because a slow smile spreads over Zoro's face, washing away the earlier tenseness and Zoro gives him a look that's pretty damn affectionate. It sends a cascade of happy fluttering things around in Sanji's stomach and he's pretty sure that he'd sell his soul to see that expression whenever he wants. 

“I appreciate that.” the other man says softly, resting his chin on his fist and continuing to fix Sanji with that bone melting smile. 

“No problem.” Sanji answers as coolly as possible despite his internal feelings. It's kind of pathetic that he's so desperate for Zoro's approval as to be affected like this but... well, there's not a lot that he can do about that.

“How about trading some honesty for honesty then? Did you sleep last night?” Sanji questions, his eyes carefully watching Zoro. Now Zoro’s smile fades and his mouth scrunches to the side, displeased with the question. 

“I didn’t, and unless you want to use that last question of yours then that’s all you’re getting.” Zoro answers tightly. Sanji does not want to use his last question on something as trivial as that, curious though he is. He decides to drop the issue.  

“So,” Zoro begins and falls back on the bean bag again with a whoosh of displaced breath, “what do you make of that picture then?” 

“A... potentially useful first lesson in how being in a band like this means that I don't get to control who takes my picture or what they do with it?” Sanji remarks with a raised eyebrow. Hell, it's a better answer than “confusing and slightly arousing”. 

“Good idea. Good advice is to not read comments online either.” Zoro adds.

“I’ll keep it in mind. Later.” He sighs and gets to his feet. 

He throws together a quick breakfast for the rest of the band, those that aren’t off on honeymoon of course, and heads off out into the city. It doesn’t take him long to get to the Baratie, nor to go inside and fall onto his old sofa in there. He looks at the image on his phone again. It's quite a photo if nothing else. He is in out of his depth here and he's in real need of some fatherly advice. It's not often that he admits to Zeff that he needs his help. Even as a kid he was pretty self-sufficient, always more comfortable in figuring things out for himself than he was letting Zeff teach him things. The two of them had a sort of unspoken bargain where if Zeff saw him careening towards something really bad or if Sanji was really in over his head then help would be given, otherwise Sanji was on his own. They both preferred it that way.

Sensible people who were properly in touch with their emotions might be tense upon seeing each other again, what with having their last few in person meetings being so tense and fraught. They are not normal people however, so the whole thing is fine. 

Zeff spots him as he comes down the hallway and stares at him for a second before walking into the room. Zeff sits down in his old faded armchair with Sanji splayed across the couch. Sanji smirks, thinking that this whole scene looks awfully psychoanalytical, as if he’s a patient on the couch and Zeff is his shrink. It’s not too far off though he supposes. 

“I think I might be in love with Zoro. And I mean that. I’ve never felt this strongly for anyone.” Sanji announces.

Zeff seems to weigh this up for a few moments.

“Who’s Zoro?” He asks after a few moments more than that. 

Right. Zoro didn’t come to his accidental audition. Zeff has never met him. Duh.

“This guy. He’s the guitarist in the band, the songwriter too.” Sanji answers and opens up the image of him and Zoro on his phone and throws it carefully to Zeff. Zeff catches it and looks, to his credit he doesn’t really react. 

“I see you’re being subtle as always kid.” His old man says flatly and throws the phone back. 

“Well, what’s your advice?” Sanji huffs sitting up and scowling at him. 

“It’s your life. In my experience you know love when you’re in it.” Zeff says with a shrug. 

Sanji scowls at him. A younger version of himself might have leapt upon that opportunity to ask Zeff if that’s what it was like with his mother. He doesn’t really remember her, he remembers that she looked like him, but not much else. It’s strange what things that he recalls about her sometimes, her laugh or the tilt of her smile. But for one reason or another she abandoned both of them and there’s no sense questioning Zeff about it. In all honesty he feels bad for all the years he’d questioned his old man about her, Zeff clearly never fell for anyone else again and in his darkest times Sanji wonders if the love of his old man’s life left them because of him, if it was him that deprived Zeff of his soul mate. 

“I know that I’ve never felt like this before, and I know that I’m attracted to him, that I respect him. But I’ve no idea what it really means. Beyond just knowing what this isn’t I’ve no idea if this is the real deal.” He sighs in frustration. 

“You’ll work it out kid.” Zeff nods at him. Sanji doesn’t find himself reassured. It's not really the answer that he came here for but... well, he supposes that this is one of those times where there just aren't any easy answers. It sucks but what can he do?

“You say he’s a guitarist huh? Is he good?” The old man asks curiously. 

“So good.” He finds himself grinning goofily, the way Zoro pulls music from his guitars is high up on the list of hottest things that Sanji has ever seen. 

“Does he have a job too?” Zeff asks conversationally and shoves Sanji off of the sofa so that he can rearrange the pillows. He picks up an old newspaper and Sanji helps him start to clean up, the old geezer has at least kept the place relatively clean whilst he’s been gone. He does worry a little privately that Zeff can't take care of himself without him, both because of the leg and because of his tendency to work himself too hard. It's not like he can keep to stern an eye on his old man now that he doesn't live here.

“Yeah, he works at the coffee place, just a block or so down actually. You know, the independent one. Kinda funny how I’ve probably walked past him for years and never realised that we’d end up in the same band.” Sanji chuckles at the strangeness of the world and picks up a takeout menu off of the floor. 

“What are his parents like?” the old man questions. 

“His mum is dead and he’s not in contact with his dad- wait. Why do you care?” Sanji frowns, suddenly looking at his old man.

“Just making conversation, manner-less brat.” Zeff snorts and whaps Sanji around the back of the head with a newspaper. 

“My ass you are, you’re trying to sneak information about whether Zoro’s suitable for me or not!” He accuses indignantly. 

Zeff snorts as if the very idea is stupid and walks off unevenly to the kitchen, his fake leg thunking on the floor. Sanji is not going to let him get away that easily. 

“You totally are! What’s next, gonna ask me if he has any tattoos or if he’s got his tongue pierced or something?!” Sanji yells, following him.

“Does he?” Zeff asks, dumping the rubbish in the kitchen bin and fixing Sanji with a scrutinising look.

“I- not from what I’ve seen but it’s NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!” Sanji shouts, waving his arms. He’s not some fucking virginal maiden that Zoro’s trying to take to prom or something, he doesn’t need his dad checking out his love life and approving or disapproving. This isn’t what he came here for!

“And how much of him _have_  you seen, hm?” the old bastard questions, making Sanji’s skin immediately flush scarlet despite having nothing much to hide on that front. Still, the mere idea of seeing Zoro naked is enough to render him with the complexion of a tomato. 

He throws up his arms and lets out a strangled cry of frustration, stomping out of the Baratie. He’s not going to deal with this shit anymore. 

He goes back home and tries to retain some sense of normalcy and sanity. They play video games in the main room and he doesn’t even have the heart to pretend like he isn’t mentally tracking Zoro’s movements around the building. The other man seems listless and Sanji has no idea why. 

When he makes dinner that night Zoro is quiet and sleepy looking, the dark circles under his eyes are more prominent. 

Sanji stays up late but notices that whilst the others all split off and head to bed Zoro doesn’t. Zoro is instead sat, unseeing before the television whilst some shitty MTV movie that he knows Zoro isn't watching plays out on screen. 

Sanji lingers at the door, unsure about what to do. Despite his apparently unyielding non specific heart fluttery emotions towards Zoro he has no real excuse to tell him to get his ass to bed and go to sleep. After all he's not actually in a relationship with the other man and has no real basis to order Zoro around, in fact even if he was in a relationship with the other man he'd feel somewhat uncertain in doing that. He chews on his lip as he lingers in the doorway, watching Zoro's slumped and energy sapped form. 

He decides to leave the sleepless man to his own devices and heads upstairs to his own bed.

Sanji stays there for a little while, trying to fall asleep, but it doesn't come easily, his mind keeps orbiting around thoughts of Zoro. Both in Zoro's sudden sleeplessness but also his unnameable feelings for the other man. 

Maybe... maybe he should just put his intentions out there in the open and see what comes of it. He's not certain to know whether or not he's in love with Zoro before anything starts, after all, don't people usually grow into that stuff in a relationship? Maybe he should just... ask Zoro out? It's not like Zoro is seeing anyone, and he knows that the other man wants someone to love him, after his semi drunk and semi philosophical ramblings after the wedding. So yeah, maybe he should just man up and tell him. 

Alternatively, that is a horrible idea. He loves being in this band and he really likes Zoro. The last thing he wants to do is to get kicked out of the band for making the moves on the moss headed musician. Besides, the last person Zoro dated was his singer, he's likely to not want to repeat that particular mistake. Even so it's just a lot of bad baggage to start a relationship off with. Anyway, this is all assuming that Zoro is interested in him. Sure he's caught Zoro staring, but eyeballing another man and actually being interested in them are two different things entirely. 

But... their friends certainly seem to be in favour of it. So perhaps they know what he should be doing. That would indicate that he should go for Zoro. 

Alternatively Zoro might clock him in the face and refuse to work with him again. 

Sanji feels a little schizophrenic arguing with himself like this. It's as if the emotional and rational parts of his self have drawn a line through his mind and declared war. Great. He falls into an uneasy sleep, dreaming of Zoro's sleepless form and of Zeff's relentless questioning regarding Zoro. 

When he wakes it's in that weird time where it's no longer night outside but neither is it morning yet, dawn hasn't yet happened but the sky is definitely lighter. He slides from under his sheets and moves across the hall, Zoro's bed is still unoccupied and showing no signs that Zoro has tried to be in it at all. Zoro hasn't slept for nearly a solid 48 hours then. That can't be good. 

Sanji returns to his bedroom and picks his blanket up off of the bed. He drapes it over his head and shoulders and leaves again. His feet lead him to the living room and lo and behold Zoro is still sat on the sofa, slumped even lower against the cushions, his eyes glazed and dark. Sanji decides that enough is enough. 

“I can't sleep.” He announces, climbing over the back of the sofa and sliding down against Zoro's side. He tucks his feet up under him and sighs wearily. He curls his blanket around himself and looks up at Zoro. The other man is giving him a sleep deprived stupid look, like he's too tired to identify what Sanji actually is, let alone listen to his words. 

“You're a hopeless mess.” He mutters, looking at Zoro. Subtlety is wasted on Zoro at the best of times, now it’s even less appropriate. Sanji grabs the remote and turns the channel over to one of the music channels, it's one of those slow smooth jazz channels. Not Sanji's kind of thing at all, but what it does provide is low, ambient, melodic white noise. 

He turns his attention back to the blearily blinking guitarist and shoves him down on the sofa. Zoro falls back onto the sofa sideways in a heap of limbs and whined protest. Sanji shoves him this way and that until he is laying on his back and, catching Zoro's legs in a tangle with his own, settles himself against Zoro's body. He works Zoro's arm under his neck so that he's resting his head on the join between Zoro's pectoral and his shoulder muscles. 

“I can't sleep, so you're going to stroke my hair until I can.” Sanji outright lies. 

“What are you, a fucking cat?” Zoro protests sleepily, fixing Sanji with a glare. 

“Do what I say, or I'll bite you.” Sanji threatens and snaps his jaw shut threateningly. 

“You're a weird son of a bitch.” Zoro grumbles but to Sanji's pleasure Zoro's nimble guitar playing fingers start to stroke through Sanji's locks. He smiles to himself and revels in the pleasant feeling.

Truth be told he's not really having trouble sleeping, except for the ill-ease which keeps waking him up, entirely spawned by the knowledge that Zoro _isn't_  sleeping. The hair stroking thing was kind of a stroke of genius, pardon the pun, it was something for Zoro to do with his hands that was repetitive and soothing and even more useful would give Sanji a gauge of how awake Zoro was. 

The other man strokes his hair gently running through sections of hair with careful fingers which never tangle or pull the hair. The real challenge of this is for Sanji to stay awake longer than it will take Zoro to fall asleep. 

He has his hand resting softly over Zoro's stomach and he notices that after a little while Zoro's breathing starts to slow down a little. Sanji can hear Zoro's heart and that too is reducing in pace ever so slowly. Zoro shifts a little every so often but he seems to be relaxing. 

Sanji sighs and tries to keep himself awake despite his eyes having slid shut long ago. Zoro's hand falls still and slides limply down Sanji's hair for a second or two. His hand twitches and Zoro breathes a little deeper for a moment. The guitarist settles his hand on the back of Sanji's skull and returns to stroking with just his fingers, instead of moving his whole hand with it. 

Sanji hears the shuffle of Zoro's shirt as Zoro's head tilts to the side sleepily and slowly but surely his breathing and his heartbeat slow even further and his fingers in Sanji's hair stop moving completely. Sanji smiles in sleepy satisfaction. Zoro is asleep. He only has a few moments to revel in his smugness before sleep drags him under as well.

A sound wakes Sanji. He blearily opens his eyes to see Chopper standing over him with a camera and a sneaky smirk on his little tan face. He shoots the young teenager his best murder face and settles back into Zoro's side to sleep. Unfortunately just that much has apparently disturbed Zoro's sleep and the larger man's arm tightens around Sanji's back and Zoro rolls onto his side, throwing an arm around Sanji's midsection and a leg over both of Sanji's. He then rolls a little further so he's covering at least half of Sanji's body with his own. 

Chopper's eyes go wide as if all his Christmases have come at once. He snaps as many pictures as he can and then rushes away before Sanji can work out some way to exact revenge without disturbing Zoro's sleep. He's got nothing and Zoro is really warm, warm enough to pull Sanji back down into a fog of slumber. 

Zoro rather cunningly dispels any possibility that their joint awakening could be awkward by jerking awake and kneeing Sanji right in the thigh and subsequently off of the sofa with an undignified squeal. 

“I hate you, you bastard.” Sanji wheezes from the ground, his tailbone giving a painful throb as pins and needles start to shoot down his leg where Zoro kneed him. Zoro peers down at him over the edge of the sofa. 

“Ya always come and snuggle up with people you hate?” Zoro smirks down at him. 

“ _Oh thank you Sanji for helping me finally sleep by gracing me with your presence._ Gee, no problem Zoro.” Sanji parrots back to himself, putting on a stupid high pitch for Zoro's voice which is completely non representative of Zoro's actual tone of voice but serves very well to piss him off. 

“I don't recall saying that I was having trouble sleeping, or asking for your help. Not that having your carcass next to me would help with that either. I seem to recall you to be the one to come to me with sleeping problems.” Zoro teases. Sanji scowls up at him and regrets giving Zoro an easy excuse like that, though at the time it had seemed like the only way that he stood a chance of getting Zoro to not, you know, die of sleep deprivation. 

“What time is it anyway?” He grumbles, thoroughly ignoring Zoro's attempts to goad him. He looks at his watch and sees that it's midday. 

“Fuuuuck. I had better make lunch.” he grumbles and gets to his feet. 

“Yep, go do that servant man.” Zoro smirks up at him and settles back onto the sofa with his arms folded behind his head and closes his eyes with a smug grin. Sanji flips him off and goes off to make lunch. It's strange, when Nami offered him the job of cooking for all of them he had thought that it was a great deal. He got paid to do something that he liked with no commute and plenty of praise. But three meals a day every day (well, except days like today where he overslept or something) is starting to get a little tiring. Which isn't to say that he's bored of cooking at all, more that there are other things that he'd rather be doing. 

Home made soup is the order of the day. Fresh onions and potatoes for taste and texture along with butter fried mushrooms, tiny florets of broccoli, little slices of carrot and plenty of cream. He bakes fresh bread rolls to go along with it, nice enough to still be warm from the oven by the time that lunch is done, yet small enough to cook in time. 

All of that is great and all, but he really wishes he could get either Zoro or that stupid smooth jazz out of his head. Both would be great but Sanji is a realist if nothing else. That treacherous feeling inside of him that might possibly _maybe_  be love is snaring it's way around all of his vital organs at the memory of sleeping with Zoro. Granted, it's not the kind of sleeping with Zoro that he would have perhaps chosen if offered the choice, but it was awfully intimate in its own right. After all, the Zoro that he first knew would never have allowed him to do that at all. Something has definitely changed between them and Sanji just wants to know what the hell it's called. 

The others show up for lunch when the smell of soup permeates the house along with the smell of freshly baking bread. Well, most people turn up. Usopp is of course not there, he's off on some beach with his new wife, Zoro however should be there but is not. 

“Sleep well?” Nami smiles sneakily at him. Sanji resists scowling, he wouldn't do such a thing to a lady after all. He's going to blame Chopper for sharing his predicament with Zoro though and shoots a scowl his way instead. 

“I did my lovely mellorine, so sorry for delaying lunch, my sincerest apologies.” He flutters in answer. 

“I'm going to go find that green-headed idiot. Don't you dare touch our food Luffy or I'll throw you in the washing machine and turn it on with you in it!” Sanji threatens and leaves the room with a bow to the girls. 

He stalks his way out to the living room, hoping that his threat to Luffy will be enough to keep the bottomless pit that is their front man out of their bowls of soup and plates of bread until he gets back with Zoro. Zoro is sprawled over the sofa snoring softly. Part of him wants to climb over the back of the sofa and spread himself on Zoro's warm body all over again. He's not going to do that though, and whilst he could indulge his fluffy feelings towards the other man he doesn't think it's such a great idea, just because he likes him doesn't mean that he has to be nice to him all the time after all. Besides, winding Zoro up is such good fun. 

He snags a cushion from the armchair nearby and holds it as high over Zoro's head as it can go before dropping it right on the idiot's face, startling him awake in a most undignified manner. 

“Lunch, moron.” He announces and saunters out of the room as cool as ice. He is so cool. He is the very prince of cool. He is derailed in his thoughts by a sofa cushion smacking him across the back of the head. 

“You bastard!” He yelps and leaps after Zoro, chasing him through hallways and eventually into the dining room where Zoro skids over to his side of the table and sits down innocently, silently daring Sanji to break Nami's strictly upheld 'no fighting around the expensive dinner table' rule. He scowls at Zoro and silently vows to get him back. In the meantime he bides his time and eats his lunch.

“So... if Sanji helped you write that song for Usopp... does that mean that Sanji's a songwriter now too?” Luffy asks curiously, having licked his bowl clean despite most people being merely halfway through theirs. 

“No.” Sanji answers.

“Yes.” Zoro also answers at the same moment. 

The two of them look at each other. 

“What? No way, I just helped. I can't do what you do!” Sanji says shaking his head. 

“You could too. You have the same wavelength as me, you helped me finish that goddamn song that I've been working on for forever.” Zoro argues back with a frown. 

“That's not the same thing at all, I can't do that writing music and singing it at the same time thing!” he protests, not entirely certain that Zoro's ability to do that isn't some kind of voodoo. 

“Very few people can.” Robin points out reasonably, looking at each of them warily, as if a fight might break out. 

“He could.” the guitarist retorts, waving a spoon in Sanji's direction in a vaguely demeaning manner. 

“I could not!” Sanji squawks indignantly.

“BULLSHIT!” the other man shouts. 

“This is the oddest vaguely complimentary argument I've ever heard.” Franky notes, looking at them. 

“How many of those do you hear anyway?” Nami frowns, looking up at the blue haired guy.

“Fair point. Hey Zoro, what happened to your nose?” Franky asks, pointing to the bridge of Zoro's nose curiously. Sanji looks at him and sees that the make up that was on there has either been washed off and not reapplied or simply rubbed off without Zoro noticing. 

The guitarist blinks in surprise and touches his own nose. 

“Ah. Managed to fall up some stairs on the way back after the wedding.” Zoro lies easily. A shiver of discomfort rushes up Sanji's spine on hearing it with such ease, he wants to yell that it's not what happened. 

“Well, good thing you did that after the wedding and not before, we're lucky your black eye went down in time.  Can you imagine what those pictures would have been like otherwise?” Nami say oblivious to the truth.

“Ha ha, yeah. Imagine that.” Zoro mutters and deliberately does not look at Sanji. 

Still at least they weren't arguing about Sanji's entirely fictional song writing talents any more. 

“You will write a song and sing at the same time.” Zoro declares, getting back on track and staring Sanji down.

Well shit. Zoro is apparently now a mind reader, a thought concerning enough in itself. 

“You're crazy.” Sanji mutters and picks his bowl up and dumps it in the sink. He ignores Zoro and leaves the room, deciding that he'll leave the washing up until later. He doesn't want to be around this stupid argument with Zoro, he kind of prefers the other man when he was all sleep deprived and dopey. Now he's just annoying again.

And it's not even like Sanji really wants to be a songwriter either, sure it'd be nice but it's inherent niceness doesn't make Sanji desperate to do it. Besides, he's happy just being a damn good singer. Writing is Zoro's thing. Along with singing and playing the guitar, the triple talented ass. 

He makes it as far as the staircase before Zoro grabs him by the shoulder. 

“Come practice with me.” Zoro says, looking up at him from where Sanji is halted on the first step of the staircase in the main hall. 

Sanji wants to say no, Sanji wants to tell Zoro to fuck off.

“You think I'm that dumb? You're just trying to get me down there to prove your silly point that you think I can write and sing at once, and I can't, so it's a waste of my time.” Sanji reasons. 

“If you're so sure, then what's the harm? Besides, we need to practice, you know that as soon as Usopp gets back Nami's going to be throwing us into shows left right and centre.” Zoro points out with a challenging grin. 

“I'm insulted that you think I'm this easy to manipulate.” he says, folding his arms.

“That's not a no.” Zoro smirks. 

“If only to prove you wrong.” Sanji grouses and follows Zoro to the music room. He's not being manipulated, he's showing Zoro up. That's what's happening here. 

Zoro could of course make this a little easier on him by not looking like a kid on Christmas morning as he flits about and picks up his guitar, looking right at Sanji with excited anticipation. 

Sanji looks around the music studio but none of the others are there and Zoro doesn't appear to be waiting for them either. 

“They're not coming, wouldn't want you to get all shy now.” Zoro smirks teasingly. 

“Nothing to be shy about, nothing's going to happen. It's not like I've secretly got some ability to do that song writing and singing witchcraft that you do. I think I'd have found out by now if I did.” he reasons.

“Not true, I can't always do it and it took me ages to find that I could. It's only cause I practice that I can do it when I want more often than not. Although... before you joined I'd sort of lost the ability to do it a little.” Zoro frowns, pausing in plugging in his guitar.

Sanji chalks up in his head another damage point done to Zoro by Baby. 

“So if this ability is so flaky, what makes you so convinced that I can do it right now? Even _if_  your entirely unsubstantiated idea that I can do it at all is right, and that's a big if, what makes you think that I can do it on command?” he reasons. 

“I feel it.” Zoro intones seriously, his hand touching his own chest.

“Well, fuck, that just clears that right fucking up doesn't it? Shit, why didn't you say that you _felt it_  earlier? I could have saved all of this clearly foolish skepticism, boy is my face red now.” he mocks, his tone flat and sarcastic. 

“Shut your yap.” Zoro snaps at him. 

“Drumming!” Luffy declares bursting into the room and throwing himself into the seat behind the drum kit and immediately launching into some very enthusiastic drumming. Sanji and Zoro just watch him for a few moments, both vaguely accepting that neither of them will ever either understand or be able to control Luffy at all. 

“I need to warm up, and it's always useful to have someone to keep me in time. You up for that Luffy?” Zoro grins. Sanji rolls his eyes, it's not as if he doesn't know what Zoro's doing. He's trying to get him in a musical mood to make him write a song. He's not stupid after all. 

Zoro starts playing, he's running through scales and his usual warm up routine. 

“It'll be fun. It's easy, you just let whatever's in your head or in your heart come to the surface. It's not like you've not got a quick mouth on you anyway. What're you scared of?” Zoro challenges him with a smirk. 

“I'm not scared. You can't just make a song out of anything, you can't just bring a part of yourself into whatever words your mouth spits out. It doesn't... life doesn't work like that.” Sanji pouts. 

“Sure it does. Have you never done that whole word association thing? It's like that, you can have someone start you off like you did for me inadvertently before or... or you just let the different parts of your mind do it.” Zoro explains. Sanji's mind instantly flicks to his internal war over his feelings for Zoro. That is even MORE reason not to do this, what if that came out?!

“If Zoro does it first will you consider it?” Luffy breaks in. Sanji jumps, he'd almost forgotten that their front man was there at all. Luffy is watching him and giving him a look that suggests that it's not so much as a question but rather a polite way of giving an order. 

“Yeah, I'll go first. Come on.” Zoro says encouragingly. 

“Fine, I'll consider it. That's all.” he mutters, knowing in some way that he's just doomed himself. 

“Yeah!” Zoro grins, clearly pleased. 

“I don't get how you can do this though, even if you can make things rhyme on the fly how do you know that the lyrics that you sing are going to make any sense or that they're not going to be really awkward?” Sanji questions despite himself. Really he doesn't know why he's asking, it's not like he's going to try doing this, he _knows_  that he can't. 

“Sanji, you sing my songs. Do the lyrics always rhyme, make sense or sound cool?” Zoro snorts with a smirk. Sanji casts his mind over their songs. Well, okay, Zoro isn't one of those people who needs every line to rhyme but he thinks that they're plenty cool in a surreal sort of way. 

“See?” Zoro laughs. 

“Whatever, let's see you do this magic on command then. I'm waiting.” Sanji says, folding his arms and staring at Zoro expectantly. He really wants Zoro to fail, or pull out, that way he doesn't have to do this either.

No such luck though as Zoro starts to pick out a simple rhythm on his guitar. Luffy laughs and joins in with the drums. Zoro heads to what is now firmly in Sanji's mind as Zoro's side of their shared microphone. Out of habit he slides into his own space. Zoro grins at him, his eyes flashing bright and mischievous in a way that makes Sanji's heart flutter. Zoro starts to sing. 

“ _Let's get fucked up and die...”_ Zoro starts. Sanji raises an eyebrow, that's one hell of a start.

“ _I'm speaking figuratively, of course_

_Like the last time that I committed suicide... social suicide”_

Sanji can't help but grin at that. Okay, so Zoro is sort of proving a point about his slightly nonsensical and awkward lyrics being okay.

“ _Yeah, so I'm already dead,_

_On the inside but I can still pretend,_

_with my memories and photographs,_

_I have learned to love the lie.”_

Sanji watches Zoro and still finds himself amazed at how Zoro is just pulling this song fully formed from... from thin air! The guitar kicks up and Luffy bounces into a fuller and stronger beat.

Zoro looks up at him and for some reason the eye contact sends a shock down Sanji's spine and his feet couldn't move him from the spot any more than they could if they’d been welded there. Zoro sings and some part of Sanji knows that it's all at him... it's all... _for_  him. His breath hitches at Zoro's words.

“ _I wanna know what it's like to be awkward and innocent, not belligerent._

_I wanna know how it feels to be useful and pertinent and have common sense.. yeah_

_Let me in, let me in to the club, cuz I wanna belong,_

_And I need to get strong, and if memory serves,_

_I'm addicted to words and they're useless”_

Oh god, Sanji can feel it. Every emotion running through Zoro is somehow shooting it's way through Sanji's system too. He has no idea how this is even possible. Is this was being a muse is about? He can feel Zoro's regret and self doubt at not being someone different. He can feel that underneath all of the prickly outside of Zoro he still just wants someone to be okay with who he is. 

Sanji restrains the urge to rip the guitar from him and grab him close. He wants to force Zoro to see just who he really is, because if Zoro could see himself as Sanji sees him... he wouldn't change a thing.

“ _In this department,”_

Zoro shakes his head at that lyric and Sanji can tell that he's abandoned it as soon as he's said it. He supposes that this is part of what Zoro was trying to convince him, that it doesn't have to be perfect first time. 

“ _Let's get fucked up and die.._

_I'm riding hard on the last legs of every lie,_

_And the BMX bike of my life is about to explode,_

_I'm about to explode._

_I'm a mess, I'm a wreck.”_

Zoro feels like he's coming off kilter again, the same way Sanji could feel it before when he was writing like this. Either way, he doesn't like hearing Zoro talk about himself or his life like that. So... on a knee jerk reaction he cuts in and sings instead, the words seeming to come from... nowhere and everywhere at once. His tone is forceful, as if he could possibly convince the surprised looking guitarist to accept his words if he just sings with enough power.

“ _I am perfect, and I have learned to accept,_

_all my problems and short comings,_

_Cause I am so visceral,”_

“ _yet deeply inept.”_ Zoro cuts back in with a grin. Sanji rolls his eyes and sighs. Zoro steps in closer to him and sings again, as if what he's singing is personal just for Sanji. The whole thing feels so raw and powerful and that feeling... that unnamed feeling in his chest for Zoro is simply getting louder and louder with every word out of the other man's mouth. He tries to force it down and only just manages.

“ _I want to thank you for being a part of my forget-me-nots and marigolds,_

_And all the things that don't get old,_

_Is it legal to do this? I surely don't know._

_It's the only way I have learned to express myself,_

_through other peoples' descriptions of life,_

_I'm afraid, I'm alone and entirely useless.”_

Sanji hears himself gasp and he clenches his fists to still himself. Zoro repeats his previously abandoned lyric and then launches into the next verse. Zoro backs away from him now, his eyes coming off of Sanji and ripping the connection away as suddenly as it started. Sanji jolts at the loss and wants Zoro back. 

“ _Let's get fucked up and die._

_For the last time with feeling_

_we'll try not to smile_

_As we cover our heads and drink heavily into the nights_

_That still shock and surprise._

_I believe that I can,_

_overcome this and beat everything in the end_

_But I choose the abuse for the time being,_

_maybe I'll win, but for now I've decided to die.”_

Fuck it, he doesn't like the self defeating lyrics that Zoro is throwing out, he's going to pull the other man back even if he has to physically do it himself. He reaches out and snags the edge of Zoro's shirt, startling the other man and making him turn back to him. Zoro's face flashes surprise for a second before running into a gentle smile as he starts the next part of the song. 

“ _Sister soldier_

_You’ve been such a positive influence on my mental frame_

_If I could ever repay you,_

_I would, but I'm hard up for cash_

_And my memory lacks initiative._

_God damn the liquor store's closed,_

_we were so close to scoring_

_it hurts, it destroys 'til it kills,_

_I am tired and hungry and totally useless.”_

Zoro's guitar carries on for a little while after his last line but even so when he stops he still looks a little too raw, like an open cut, all ragged around the edges with his insides right out exposed in the air. That urge to just... gather Zoro up and... what? Protect him? It's stupid but that's sort of what Sanji's feeling right now. 

More relevantly for the expectant look that Luffy is shooting his way he wonders if he's going to feel like that after his song. Because of course he'd be stupid to think that he was going to get out of it now, especially after cutting into Zoro's own song. Where the hell had that come from anyway? He just... did it. 

Perhaps Zoro might be right about this whole thing but... what if he blurts out his feelings for Zoro right now? He can't... well... he could. It could be one way of settling this whole should he or shouldn't he issue. Wait, no, that was stupid and reckless. 

“Sanji?” Zoro's voice interrupts him. The guitarist is giving him a slightly concerned look and Sanji realises that he's been off in his own little world this whole time. 

“I'm not sure about this.” he mutters looking away. 

Zoro doesn't say anything but when Sanji looks up at him the guilt washes over him. Zoro just dragged him into his soul and it doesn't seem fair for Sanji to just be all 'well, that was interesting, thanks for the ride, bye!' and not at least _try_  to reciprocate.

“You won't know if you can do it or not until you try, but I believe you can!” Luffy chirps from behind the drum kit. Sanji jumps at his words. Goddamnit, he'd forgotten that he was there again! Why is it that the world keeps seeming to shrink just down to him and Zoro? That can't be healthy. 

His eyes flick back to the green haired man and his pulse races and his heart lodges itself in his throat. He both wants to do this and doesn't. He wants Zoro to think that he's got talent but he's terrified that if he exposes how he really feels that Zoro might shoot him down. 

“Fine. You win but... don't blame me if it sucks.” He grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest self consciously.

“It won't suck, the lines you gave me just now didn't.” Zoro points out smugly. 

“Yeah, yeah.” he sighs unconvinced.

“How about this, I play music until something clicks with you, and when it does you go for it. Just... give me whatever's going through your head.” the guitarist says with a shrug, as if it's the simplest thing in the world. 

He starts to play through various tunes, something slow and sombre though that one doesn't seem to 'click' as Zoro put it. Zoro goes for something more energetic and upbeat and that feels like it fits a little better but not quite right either. Next Zoro plays something steady with a reasonably fast beat to it without sounding too hyper or too dull either. Zoro clearly reads something in his expression because he gives this smug grin and keeps playing. 

Sanji chews his lip, his mind spinning at a million miles an hour, he feels like his head is full of bees, buzzing around as a million thoughts ricochet through his brain and no matter how many ideas he has he can't pick some way to start. Zoro's tune is continuing on, waiting for him. 

Fuck it, however he starts is going to be stupid. Go with whatever's in his head huh? Well all that's in his head right now is chaos. He may as well go with that. 

He groans and shuts his eyes, scrubbing his hands over his eyes as he just... goes for it he supposes.  

“ _Hello there, how you doin'?_

_I've got all these thoughts just floating through my brain.”_

  
  


God that is stupid as hell sounding and he just can't stop there. His mouth babbles on.

  
  


“ _They bump and they collide and cause a flurry of confusion_

_And it's... getting on my nerves_

_I try to hold myself together_

_fighting off this mental weather when I can”_

  
  


Well, that got a little better but now he's got to some up with something relevant to weather which he'd only sprung for so it rhymed with 'together'. Zoro takes pity on him and leans in and delivers the next line.

  
  


“ _sometimes I do,”_

  
  


Sanji grins, he supposes that's Zoro filling in the silence so it doesn't stretch on too long and cause the song to fall apart, but equally the statement is bland enough to not influence his lyrics. Sanji feels the next words come into mind and lets them out with a sort of perverse pleasure.

  
  


“ _But this shitstorm's never ending_

_And the atmospheric pressure's calling for rain”_

  
  


He pauses for a moment as the reality hits that he's doing this. He's writing a song and singing it at the same time, something he'd sworn blind that he couldn't do. And yet... here Zoro is, pulling this incredible thing from him. To think that he could have not joined this band, not met Zoro. He probably had passed the man in the street before, what with how close they work and yet he'd not known that he could have had this. 

No, this is right. He... he needs Zoro as much as Zoro apparently needs him. This is... where he's supposed to be. A flash of Zoro's old lyrics runs through his head and the words come to his lips, challenging Zoro and echoing his previous sentiment.

  
  


“ _This is what I've got going on,_

_This is where I belong tonight”_

  
  


It... it is where he belongs. The world shrinks down to just him and Zoro again as Zoro takes off with his guitar, showing off just how easily he can turn a simple musical pattern into something so amazing. 

Sanji pauses and watches Zoro. He watches the play of Zoro's muscles, the bronze of his skin and more importantly he stares at the man who has so rapidly become the centre of Sanji's little world. He wants Zoro but he's terrified of losing him. He can't suppress the conflict within him any more, but he's no idea what he's going to go for.  Zoro's guitar pitches down in speed and Sanji knows a cue when he sees it, used as he is now to reading Zoro's music style. 

  
  


“ _It's chaos in the courthouse_

_And the left side's all upset_

_Because the right side wants a summer home_

_and knows we can't afford it_

_I try to mediate between_

_This constant tug-o-war machine_

_But wind up in a never ending game of telephone”_

  
  


He manages not to make any overt references to love but only by shoehorning in some arbitrary thing that he's supposedly arguing with himself over (but really, a summer home? What the hell?) He clutches at either side of his head as he feels the crescendo of emotion and almost panic building within him. He stares at Zoro, should he move forward or stay? Should he risk it all for something amazing or stay where he is but forever be wanting?

  
  


“ _There's so much going on_

_And I just need seven minutes to calm myself back down,_

_Now I forgot where I was_

_Was it me we were talking about?”_

  
  


The opening is there for Zoro to come in, to save him from his own ineptitude and rescue him from this emotional disaster of a song. But Zoro shakes his head and continues playing, fixing Sanji with a smile that melts him and makes half of him want to rush forward and kiss the other man and half of him want to run away for fear of change.

  
  


“ _This is what I feared from the start_

_I keep falling apart!”_

  
  


The panic is starting to rise in him. He can't quite stop himself from singing now that the song has begun and instead all he's doing is verbally freaking out. Zoro is starting to look a little concerned for him even, it must be bad.

  
  


“ _What's going on, is this where I belong tonight?”_

  
  


He was wrong, this isn't where he's supposed to be, he's just going to fuck this up! He needs to get out of here.

“ _What's going on tonight?”_ Zoro's voice kicks in and something in Sanji quiets at seeing Zoro's concerned eyes locked onto him. He stays and repeats his line, still uncertain as to whether this is the best idea or the worst idea, but Zoro stays with him, echoing the complimentary line. 

  
  


“ _What's going on, is this where I belong tonight?”_

“ _What's going on?”_

  
  


Zoro's eyes are staring right into him, right inside every part of his soul and Sanji can't escape the feeling that Zoro is aware of his emotions right now as Sanji was earlier when he felt plugged into every part of Zoro's feelings. 

  
  


“I _Can't stand,”_ Zoro kicks in with another line that immediately makes Sanji respond without thinking.

“ _I can't stand the thought of losing-”_

  
  


Shit no! Abort! He can't say that he can't stand the thought of losing Zoro! His mouth kicks out the first non Zoro related sentence that comes to mind and apparently his brain is punishing him on account of it making no goddamn sense. 

  
  


“ _Sentences and every island of words”_

  
  


Zoro frowns, seemingly sensing the substitution but hopefully not knowing just _what_  it was that Sanji changed.  He sings his line in what is apparently now the chorus to their song. 

  
  


“ _Can't stand,”_

  
  


“ _I can't stand the thought of losing..._

_Everything I ever thought I that I knew”_

  
  


Sanji's words are right. He'd thought that he wasn't a songwriter and yet here he is, writing music on the fly. He'd thought that being in a band was a dream that was never going to come true, but he was wrong about that as well. He's not sure that he's in love with Zoro or not but... he wants to find out. So fucking badly. He wants to grab Zoro close and show him just how he feels, to lay out everything and hope to the gods that Zoro will take him. 

His insecurities however fire up the mental image of Zoro rejecting him, of him saying no. He feels his mouth tug down sadly and the crease of worry in Zoro's brow deepens and the melody slows a little, matching Sanji's mood. It seems that Zoro can sense his moods then. 

He turns from Zoro, the fearful ache in his chest at the idea of losing this, of losing Zoro. 

  
  


“ _This is where I run out of words_

_That describe how I'm so damn hurt_

_This is where I fumble and fold_

_And take what I'm told”_

  
  


He continues through the rest of the song, Zoro filling in his parts, earnestly seeming to try to find out what's up with Sanji. Sanji can finish the chorus but he... he can't keep going beyond that. 

  
  


“ _What's going on, is this where I belong tonight?_

_(What's going on tonight)_

_What's going on, is this where I belong tonight?_

_(What's going on tonight)_

_What's going on, is this where I belong tonight?_

_(What's going on tonight)_

_What's going on, is this where I belong tonight?_

_(What's going on)_

_(Can't stand) I can't stand the thought of losing_

_Sentences and every island of words_

_(Can't stand) I can't stand the thought of losing_

_Everything I ever thought I that I knew”_

  
  


Sanji steps away from Zoro as the other man's guitar notes hover in the air for a second or two.

“Sanji?” Zoro frowns, reaching for him. 

“I have to-” Sanji chokes out a non excuse and dashes past the other man and sprints up the stairs away from him. He just needs to get away. 

Sanji gasps, clutching at his hair as he makes a break for the kitchen. He doesn't really know why he goes for the kitchen except perhaps it's the closest space that he regards as his. He really needs to be in his own space right now, he's had Zoro all plugged into his mind and his nerves just then and it's all _too much_. 

His system feels overloaded, like plugging something that's supposed to run on batteries right into the mains. He's vibrating with unspent energy and thoughts and his head is simply spinning. Oh god, that connection with Zoro. That... it was as if the other man was part of him! How is it possible to be so connected to someone like that? 

It answers his stupid question though. He's in love with Zoro. Absolutely. And nothing terrifies him more than the idea of losing him. He can't... he can't do this!

“Sanji?” Zoro's voice is behind him, close... too close. 

“Don't- please.” he forces out, his hands clutching at the counter top. Right now half of him is screaming at him that all he needs is Zoro and he needs him like air. This wonderful amazing man has turned him into something wonderful, changed him into the best possible version of himself. Zoro is so perfectly aggravating, he gets under Sanji's skin but he's so secretly sweet, so real and raw that Sanji just wants to keep him there. 

There is no part of Zoro that he doesn't want in on and now that his control is at an all time low he's not going to be able to hold back if Zoro-

Zoro's hand falls on his shoulder and the other man pulls him around to face him, Sanji slams his eyes shut and goes over every fucking reason why he needs to have some self restraint. Zoro isn't his boyfriend. Just because Zoro eyed him up doesn't mean that he'll be interested. Zoro might refuse to work with him if he acts on his. He just... he needs to stop. 

“Sanji, I know that was intense, I mean I felt... but you gotta talk to me.” Zoro says softly and oh fuck, Sanji can feel the warmth radiating off of Zoro from here. He whines in his throat and tries to restrain himself. 

Zoro's hand touches the edge of Sanji's jaw, so warm and so careful. 

The last of Sanji's self control snaps. 

His eyes fly open just long enough to coordinate himself as he pushes off of the counter and at Zoro. He wraps his arms around the guitarist's neck and brings their mouths together forcefully. He kisses Zoro hard, he forces every fucking emotion that he has for the other man into it. He doesn't even have it in him to hold back right now. 

Zoro gasps against his lips and his hands come to Sanji's hips. The very fact that he's not being pushed away right now takes the edge off of the fear and desperation and he's able to lean against Zoro properly and kiss him more gently. 

Sanji feels rather than hears the moan roll through Zoro's chest as the taller man's mouth opens up against him. Scarcely believing his luck Sanji works his way inside Zoro's mouth, the other man's tongue instantly coming alive against his. 

Zoro's hands tighten on Sanji's belt loops and Sanji twines his fingers into Zoro's lush green hair. He whines in his throat as Zoro seems to pull him a little closer against him and leans into the kiss, forcing Sanji back a little. 

Zoro must have been moving because Sanji's lower back hits the counter top as Zoro presses him against it and gives just as much into their kiss as Sanji does. 

His heart is about ready to explode, all his fears were baseless and his imagination isn't doing justice to what he'd thought kissing Zoro could be like. He feels like he was made for this, he fits perfectly against Zoro's body and as he sighs into the kiss and tilts his head a little for Zoro he decides that he never wants to leave. 

He and Zoro pull apart slightly, their breath mingling as they both pant for air. His hands stay on Zoro's neck, delighting in the smooth and muscled feel under his fingertips.

“Oh god that was-” He pants, dizzy with happiness. 

“Oh FUCK.” Zoro squeaks, leaping back from him suddenly. 

That jars Sanji right the fuck out of his happy haze. Zoro is at least two foot away from him now and staring at him with wide horrified eyes as if he can't believe what he's just done. 

“No, we... we can't do this.” Zoro says, panic running through his tone as he stares at Sanji in terror. 

Sanji suppresses the bitter sting of rejection and instead clocks the fear in Zoro's expression. The other man is completely freaking out right now. Why on earth would- ah. Yes, that whole... same gender thing. Right. Zoro hasn't had any experience with that. Sanji forces down his own emotions and tries to be reasonable.

“It's okay, I mean... I get it. You've not kissed a guy before so... you can freak out, it's fine. I shouldn't have leapt on you so quick.” Sanji sighs, shutting his eyes as he shoves aside his needy libido which is protesting at the fact that Zoro isn't right here against him right now. The last thing he wants to do is force this issue and make Zoro run away from him. He tries to remember the first time a guy kissed him, he'd flipped out, terrified at finding out that he liked guys and confused and horrified at his own responses. He could have used a little understanding and patience then so the least he could do was offer the same to Zoro.

“I... didn't think of that. Huh.” Zoro remarks, touching his lips and staring at Sanji in slight wonder, as if the idea that Sanji was male hadn't occurred to him until Sanji had mentioned it. 

“What do you mean 'huh'?!” Sanji squawks in offence. 

“No- not that. I don't... apparently care that you're a guy. Which is... interesting, I guess.” Zoro remarks distantly. He shakes his head though, apparently saving that conundrum for later. Sanji frowns, so... if not that, then what? 

“I just... we really can't do this.” the other man says shaking his head and effectively stabbing a barb through Sanji's heart. He could handle Zoro freaking out about kissing a guy for the first time, but to be told no and meant it... why? Zoro had kissed him back hadn't he? He knows he had because it had been _perfect and glorious_. 

“Why?” He asks in a small voice. 

“I- Sanji, don't...” Zoro whines, stepping closer and reaching for him as if on reflex. He stops himself before he gets to Sanji though and gives him a pained and pleading look. 

“We just can't.” Zoro says stiffly, glancing away as if he cannot possibly stand to look at Sanji any more. 

“Why? If you're going to kiss me back like that and then rip out my heart and tell me no then... couldn't you at least tell me why? Please?” Sanji begs, grabbing Zoro's arm and pleading with him, hoping against hope that Zoro will change his mind.

“Come on, please. Is it because I'm your singer or your muse? Or just because it's too soon after Baby or... what? Just give me a reason.” He says, desperately needing an answer here. 

The other man's frown deepens and finally he drags his eyes back to Sanji and a look of sympathy flutters across his face. 

“I'm not... I'm not single. I've already got someone and she's going to kill me if she finds out that I... that kissed you back like that. Shit.” Zoro groans, tangling his hands in his own hair. 

Sanji just stares. It takes a stunned second or two for the hurt to kick in but when it does arrive it's as if someone's punched him right in the gut and gone up through his ribs to claw at his heart too. 

“BullSHIT! You're not with anyone!” He hisses, hurt that Zoro could lie to him and above all that he could think he was so stupid as to believe such a blatantly false lie. Did Zoro really think so little of him? That hurts even more than the rejection!

“No, I'm not lying Sanji. I really wouldn't. Believe me, I want this... I really... _really_ want this. But I can't just cheat on my girlfriend, I'm not that sort of guy.” Zoro answers, running a longing look up and down Sanji's body that, despite his internal pain, sets off a flutter of a heat through his skin and being looked at like that. 

“I know it sounds crazy but... I kept it secret because after Baby and I had that fight and she broke up with me and left the band... well... the others were all so stupidly over protective that they'd never let it go. I'm an adult and I should be able to see who I want without getting the third degree about it from my overly meddling friends. So I just... didn't tell anyone.” Zoro explains, looking at Sanji with some regret. 

Sanji stares at him.

He really doesn't want to believe this. What kind of bullshit is this? A secret girlfriend? It's the shittiest excuse ever for shooting someone down. 

But Zoro looks so... remorseful and conflicted about it. His eyes keep sliding back to Sanji and looking at him with such an expression of pure want only to flick back to wrenching his gaze away with an expression of self-loathing that Sanji has no choice but to buy it. Zoro's... he's really not going to date Sanji. 

“Fuck.” Sanji whines, putting his head in his hands. 

His heart aches. He'd thought that he had Zoro, that all of his dreams had come true and that... no. It's too painful to think on. He draws in a shuddering breath and looks back up at Zoro who is looking agonised at this whole thing.

“So... what now? Are you still going to be able to work with me? I mean... I promise to keep my hands to myself. You've said no and you're taken so... I have to respect that. But I can understand if you felt like my idiocy had fucked things up beyond repair. I really don't want to leave but if-” Sanji begins, his voice shaking.

“What? God, Sanji, no! I'm not letting you go! You're perfect, I need you. You're talented and... it's half the reason that I'm attracted to you, why I kissed you back. Everything about you, your voice, your music... I can't just let you go. I mean... if you still want to stay. But... please don't leave just because of this.” Zoro adds hastily, a pleading look on his face. 

“I... can stay?” Sanji asks hopefully. 

“You'll have to go through me if you want to quit.” Zoro threatens with a weak, hopeful smile.

“Okay. I can... I can do that.” he nods, breathing out carefully. 

“I just don't want to know about... whoever she is. It just hurts and I don't- let's just not.” Sanji says quickly, holding his hand up. The last thing he wants to hear about now is how great Zoro's secret girlfriend is. 

“Fair enough.” Zoro agrees with a nod.

“I hope she appreciates you is all because she's stupidly lucky to have you. I'd die to be in her shoes.” he adds, a touch bitterly. 

“I don't think her shoes would suit you, heels and what have you.” Zoro smiles weakly, trying to make him laugh. He fails but he does manage to pull a weak upturn at the edge of Sanji's lips.

“Fuck you man, you don't know what I could make look good.” he retorts weakly, hoping to resurrect their usual banter. 

“Hey Sanji... I'm sorry, okay? It's stupidly bad timing is all, if it wasn't for this I wouldn't even dream of saying no. I can't quite believe that I am now.” Zoro says softly. 

“Let's not, okay? I know you're trying to be kind but that really is worse than not saying anything.” Sanji mutters as the flash of hurt runs through him. He starts to torture himself, wondering how much sooner he would have had to have made his move to get there first. He doesn't want to go down that mental road. 

“Sorry.” the other man apologises.

“It's fine.” He says dismissively, shoving his hurt feelings down and trying to be the grown up here. 

“Look, I'm gonna skip out on making dinner and go out and get drunk and feel sorry for myself, okay? I'll... see you tomorrow.” he adds, walking away from Zoro and towards the door. 

“Sanji, it's two in the afternoon, on a Tuesday, where are you going to get a drink?” Zoro calls after him.

“My old man owns a bar remember? Later.” Sanji calls over his shoulder and lets himself out of the front door. He shuts it behind him and walks to his car. He unlocks the door, climbs inside, turns the engine on and drives off. 

A few minutes down the road he finds a good place to stop and pulls over. 

Finally alone he lets go of the resistance inside of himself and allows all of his feelings to come crashing back in from where he'd pushed them aside. 

He'd risked it all and opened his heart to Zoro only to get shot down. The ache burns deep within him and Sanji has to bite his lip to stop the tears from spilling over. He finally works out that he loves Zoro only to find that a girl has gotten in there before him. 

On the plus side Zoro doesn't hate him, they're still going to work together. So it's not as bad as he imagined. 

Only now... now he has to contend with the secret knowledge that Zoro has someone else. That there's some lucky girl out there that gets to see Zoro underneath all of his prickly layers and grungy clothes. There's someone out there who Zoro cares for, who he trusts. That someone must have been pretty special for Zoro to risk his heart again after Baby broke up with him, and her bond with him must be strong to not be entirely chased away by Baby's continuing obsession with Zoro and his with her. 

Fuck. He really hopes that she knows how lucky she is. She has everything that Sanji wants. 

Despite his best attempts at restraining them Sanji feels the hot tears spill down his cheeks anyway. 


	10. Chapter 10

Sanji is feeling especially sorry for himself right now, he's kind of kicking himself for not using his last question to find out just who Zoro's girlfriend is. He's swinging between that and not wanting to know at all. On the one hand he really wants to know more about this stupidly lucky girl, but on the other he probably shouldn't. He's so desperate to understand more about her and just what's so special about her that made her so appealing to Zoro that he could get over Baby.

In all honesty it's probably better for him not to know about her. He'll just end up torturing himself about his own flaws and how he compares to her.

"You're really just going to hang out here getting shitfaced then? That's your plan?" Patty challenges him, making a move to take Sanji's vodka away. Sanji is usually a wine or craft beer kind of guy, but right now he will settle for the most efficient path from sobriety to drunkenness.

"Yes, that's my plan." He snaps and pours himself another measure into his cola. After all, even if he is horribly upset he's not going to drink this stuff neat.

"Whatever, man." Patty grumbles and walks off to continue setting up the bar for actual paying customers.

Sanji slides down in his own booth and drinks his drink. He doesn't know if a flat out "sorry I'm not interested" would have been better or worse.

He'd feel pretty deflated if Zoro hadn't liked him at all, and felt really stupid too. There had been hints that Zoro had liked him as well so if he'd just misread all of that because Zoro didn't like him he'd feel pretty foolish. On the other hand though, simply being rejected because you're not the appropriate gender or something isn't really anything personal.

But Zoro does like him back. Zoro hadn't just kissed him back Zoro had pushed things further. It was Zoro who had pressed him up against the kitchen counter and kissed Sanji back until his bones felt like melting. But Zoro wasn't available, though he'd pretty much outright said that he was interested. He wonders if he's going to be able to get over this or if he's going to sit around hoping against hope that Zoro and his mystery girlfriend break up.

He highly suspects that he'll be pining away hoping that the secret girl will suddenly change her mind. It's pathetic but what can he do?

He throws his drink back and pours another, going considerably heavier on the vodka and substantially lighter on the cola.

What does this girl have that he doesn't anyway? He really wants to know. Did she just get there first? Is Zoro even happy with her? He certainly hasn't seemed like he's half of a loving couple, but then he supposes that Zoro's been trying to keep their relationship a secret.

But... at the wedding Zoro was whining that no one loved him and he didn't have a soul mate, which was bullshit because Sanji was  _right there_  and he loves him plenty. So... was Zoro actually unhappy with his girlfriend and really bemoaning his lack of love or was he just lying to make Sanji think that he didn't have a girlfriend? It'd be a pretty convoluted lie if it was one. After all it wasn't as if Sanji had pressed about Zoro's love life at all and prompted the other man to play like he was single and lonely.

Fuck why was Zoro so goddamn hard to figure out?

He finishes his newest drink.

He's starting to get a little fuzzy headed as it happens and he ponderously takes out his phone. He stares at Zoro's number and opens up a text message.

Uh. No. Wait, drunk texting or drunk calling Zoro was not only not cool but it was a really bad idea.

He slides the phone across the other side of the table and pours himself a new drink.

So. What is his plan going to be? He's not going to have a problem working with Zoro, that's for sure. He's just happy to have not lost that despite being shot down. It might be a little... difficult to deal with any love songs with him for a little while but he's sure he can manage in the long run.

He runs his finger up and down the condensation on the glass and stares at it. It's late enough now that the Baratie is open to actual customers aside from just himself. The music starts to play, even though it's just from the speakers and not from a live band.

When does Zoro even see his super secret girlfriend then? He knows that Zoro goes off cycling into the night sometimes and he'd just sort of assumed that unless Zoro was cycling to a bar to get drunk or start a fight that he was just... well... either cycling to work or just out enjoying his bike. Perhaps... perhaps sometimes he's off seeing his secret girlfriend.

He wonders how often he sees her. He wonders what she thinks about the fact that she's kept a secret from Zoro's friends. He knows that he wouldn't be okay with that at all. Which isn't to say that he'd make a whole song and dance about going out with Zoro if he was ever so lucky (okay, well now he might make a song about it but that's not the point) but he wouldn't keep it from people. Something as great as love shouldn't be kept hidden.

Maybe, he thinks as he drinks some more, Zoro isn't happy with his girlfriend but perhaps he just has insanely low standards for happy in his relationships. Like 'hey you didn't steal my music and slap me on stage!' constitutes a good relationship. So... perhaps Zoro might see that he's got options, that he's got someone else who genuinely wants him. And perhaps even further Zoro might... maybe... leave his girlfriend for him?

He downs his glass. He is starting to sound pathetic now, even to himself.

Well. Enough of that pathetic self pity, he might be able to get a bus home if he leaves now. But... he might run into Zoro at home and he's not sure what he'd say if he saw him like this. Maaaybe he can just crash in his old room and then go home tomorrow.

On the plus side that means he doesn't need to stay even vaguely sober. Yay!

He considers calling Zoro and looks across the table at his phone. He gathers up the last of his sober sanity and picks the phone up.

He grabs the bottle of vodka, leaving the useless cola on the table and stands up. The world pitches to the right and takes him with it. After several stumbled steps in the wrong direction he reorients himself and heads behind the bar and punches in the code to open up the till.

"OI!" Patty snaps at him but stops when he sees Sanji just drop his phone in the drawer and shut it. Later he'll be either too drunk to remember the code to get in it again, or failing that Patty probably won't let him near it at all. Commending himself for his own underappreciated genius he heads upstairs and into his old man's house.

Zeff is thankfully out tonight, seeing some old friend Patty had said. He half walks and half falls up the stairs, swigging directly from the blessed bottle of vodka as he does so. It occurs to him that this would be an excellent time to sing! He takes a long pull of vodka and launches into a very slurred rendition of "I've got you under my skin" on account of Sinatra is just about the best thing to sing whilst drunk, or even sober. His voice usually goes pretty well with Sinatra, although objectively it's probably a little closer to what it should sound like when he's not completely trashed.

He throws himself down on his old bed and throws his arm over his eyes, the bottle still hanging in his free hand. He bites his lip as he imagines Zoro perhaps telling him that he and his girlfriend have broken up and they can be together now. He knows that he's being pathetic but... he just wants Zoro to see him like that.

He drops the vodka bottle on his night stand and considers what to do now. He could go out to another bar, one he's not vaguely involved in the ownership of. He could go and get drunker and try to talk someone into bed with him. But... he knows inside that it won't make him feel better. Besides, right now he really doesn't need the embarrassment of calling Zoro's name out in bed with someone else, or not being able to go through with it at all.

Even so, and he's sure this doesn't make sense, but he'd feel wrong trying to sleep with someone else. It'd feel... unfaithful somehow. Which is dumb as shit because as was so recently proved to him, Zoro is not only not his boyfriend but also has no intentions of being it any time soon.

The internal debate about whether or not to go out dies immediately, he's just going to go to bed and sleep this off.

The world is aching and spinning when Sanji makes his way into the house, a little lighter the cab fare back as there's no way he was sober enough to drive home safely. He hisses in hung over pain as the cab speeds away on the gravel driveway and he makes his way back up to the house, head aching and cursing his poor choices.

He makes it as far as the kitchen before he's spotted.

"Well, where did you get off to?" Nami asks, spying him on her way into the kitchen. It's just early enough to be breakfast time, as Sanji's phone had woken him up with an alarm to remind him. Or, to be more precise, his phone had woken Zeff up and Zeff had then rather discourteously kicked him out of bed into a self pitying heap.

"Just out, but I couldn't let you make breakfast on your own." Sanji smiles weakly at her and drags himself into the kitchen.

"Are you okay? You look a little pale." Nami questions, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I'm fine, my flower." He flutters weakly for her and very gingerly gets out the frying pan and saucepans for a cooked breakfast. Every time they clank or clatter on the cooker top makes him wince.

"You're hung over!" Nami yelps, pointing at him. Her voice is loud enough to send a sharp needle of pain through his brain.

"So, is Zoro dealing with this as badly as you are then?" she asks, her hands on her hips and a smug little smile on her pretty lips.

Sanji's blood freezes, Nami  _knows_?

"What?" He squeaks pathetically.

"The hangover? Or does he not have one at all? Sometimes he's a real bastard like that, he gets trashed with you and then wakes up just fine the next morning, it's not fair." Nami pouts, her lip jutting out cutely. However Sanji is still confused by all that she's said and spending brain power admiring his lovely manager's cute pout is hardly helping.

"Wha?" He mumbles confused.

"Geez Sanji, are you still drunk or something? He went out with you last night didn't he? Where is he?" she frowns at him.

"No, Zoro wasn't with me. I went out on my own. Is... is he not here?" He asks in surprise, realising what Nami must have assumed.

"Oh, no. No he's not. We all just figured that the two of you had gone out together, you know, since you're so close now and everything." Nami smiles with a slightly catlike and devious expression on her face.

"No, sorry." he apologises weakly and goes back to cooking, his mind spinning fast. Where was Zoro last night then? There's the possibility that he went out to drown his sorrows as Sanji himself had, but... but if it were him he'd go to his secret girlfriend and either confess what had happened or try to make it up to her somehow. A small hopeful part of his brain optimistically suggests that maybe Zoro went to go and break up with his girlfriend. He shoves that part away, he doesn't need false hope.

"The two of you do seem to be getting on better than you did at first. It's good that the fighting has stopped." Nami says approvingly, leaning against the kitchen counter and playing with the ends of her hair.

"I'm afraid we still fight plenty, my love. But we're doing much better than we were." he laughs softly and switches the stove on.

"I don't think I would have believed when you two first met that it wouldn't be long before you were all snuggled up on the sofa together asleep." She giggles, effectively turning Sanji scarlet.

"Ah- that was- uh... he just wasn't sleeping so I thought I'd keep him company then... uh..." He stammers, overwhelmed with embarrassment.

"Suuure." She giggles at his discomfort.

Sanji tries to force his blush down and starts cracking eggs into a bowl. He's not sure that he's got enough coordination as hung over as he is to manage to do individual eggs for people, so he thinks that scrambling is the best idea, besides he makes some damn good scrambled eggs. They'll help with the hangover too.

"You ought to ask him out you know. He likes you, I'm sure of it. And don't say that you don't, I see the way you look at him!" Nami overrides him as he tries to protest in flushed mortification.

"I think it's sweet, and I think you'd be good for one another." She adds with a small soft smile. Sanji looks at her open mouthed and tries to suppress the flash of hurt that runs through him. He'd thought that he could be good for Zoro too, and he knows how much Zoro has brought out the best in him. But... Zoro turned him down. But it's not as if they know about Zoro's secret girlfriend either. If only she wasn't so secret then maybe he could have been spared having to bare his feelings to Zoro only to be shot down. If he'd known that Zoro was with someone before... if he'd been open about it then perhaps Sanji could have lived with just longing for him without expectation.

But he hadn't known, and neither does anyone else. So they were all trying to help him, and they were right that Zoro was attracted to him too, or he seemed to be from what he said and the way that he'd kissed Sanji back. A rush of excited static runs over his skin at the memory.

He realises that Nami is still looking at him and it's been some time since either of them spoke. He shakes his head, letting more of his hair slide forward into his face to hide his expression a little as he cooks.

"You're not the first person to give me that kind of advice." Sanji sighs, looking at the eggs and stirring them as a wave of melancholy washes over at him.

"So you ought to. He'll say yes, I'm sure!" she encourages him with a pat on his shoulder.

"I... no." he says shaking his head.

"Why not? I know you like him, so do it! We were hoping that you might take the initiative yourself but I think you need a little nudge." Nami says, her face taking on that cunning catlike smile that he usually loves too much. Not quite so much now though.

"Nami, don't..." Sanji sighs, closing his eyes.

"Do it or I'll ask him out on your behalf." She threatens with a grin.

"Please don't, he won't say yes. Just leave it, please Nami." He begs her, looking over at her and taking his eggs off of the heat so that they don't singe.

"Oh Sanji, don't be a chicken, you don't know what he'll say until you ask, and I'm telling you-" She begins.

"That's how I know! He... he said no. So please... just... stop." Sanji forces out, squeezing his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose to try to distract himself from the tension and upset. He's always been a reasonably emotional guy when it comes to matters of the heart, but when he's as invested as he is with Zoro... well... it still hurts.

Nami looks stunned at this revelation, so much so that she's silent with her mouth slightly open for a second or two.

"You... you asked him out and he said no?" she asks in numb surprise.

"Yes." he answers reluctantly.

"Oh, I'll  _strangle_  him! He likes you! Why would he- why did he say no?!" Nami yells in frustration. Sanji tries to shush her, it's bad enough that he's had to tell her, but he really doesn't want the whole house hearing. Moreover this would be a stupidly bad time for Zoro to walk in and hear them, and knowing his luck Zoro would.

They hadn't exactly talked about keeping the whole thing quiet, but the fact that Zoro had chosen to keep his girlfriend a secret rather implied that Zoro would be more than just a little annoyed at him outing him on that. Even so, he needs to say something or else Nami is going to go and try to force them together.

"He just said he couldn't. I'd really rather not go into it, but it's not his fault, don't worry about it." He mumbles, turning over the sausages under the grill, they look nearly done.

"I can't imagine why he'd- ugh. He really needs to get over Baby, I hate the fact that she's ruining his life even though she's gone!" She says, her hands on her hips irritably.

She casts her gorgeous brown eyes up at him with a sad little expression, one that looks far too close to pity for Sanji's comfort.

"I'm really sorry Sanji, maybe he'll come around." She says gently, touching his shoulder.

"Yeah." He hums softly, not really wanting to talk about it at all. He stares into the pan and adds the mushrooms to fry.

"Okay... well... call me when breakfast is ready, okay Sanji?" the beautiful red head frowns, sounding a little put off by Sanji's lack of response.

"Of course, my mellorine." he promises, though nowhere near as enthusiastically as he normally might.

Nami leaves him then and Sanji cooks a solid breakfast, plenty of eggs, sausages, toast, tea and coffee. He makes fried mushrooms, somewhat glad for Usopp's lack of presence because nothing makes the quick fingered keyboard player bitch like mushrooms. Any attempt Sanji ever makes at serving them is met with complaint by him and Zoro always seems to end up with extra mushrooms sneakily applied to his plate via Usopp. Not that Zoro seems to mind of course, he actually eats all of his food without complaint and-

Goddamnit. Why is he constantly thinking of Zoro?! Well, it's no mystery as to why, really. He's in love with the other man. All the same, he's been turned down and it won't help his heart to heal if he constantly keeps thinking of the green haired man, like poking at a still healing wound.

He has enough time to briefly wonder how that cut on Zoro's nose is healing before he catches himself and silently reprimands his own mind for thinking of him  _again_.

He has the forethought to prepare a lunch platter and places it within the fridge for his friends to help themselves to, along with a helpful note on the fridge door to explain. It's easy for them to see as he places all of the lunch platter's parts onto the one central shelf and sticks a post-it on that too.

He serves up breakfast and eats his portion without any real joy for it, he stays out of the conversation that the others are having, paying so little attention that by the time he gets up and begins to clean up he can't even remember what it was that the others were discussing. Zoro of course was absent, that no doubt would have held his attention.

After the cleaning is all done he drags his carcass up the stairs, cursing the number of flights that he has to go up. He goes into his room, kicking the door shut and strips as his headache bangs behind his eyes and his heartbreak throbs in his chest. He throws himself into his own bed and decides to try to sleep them both off. With the luxury of lunch already taken care of he allows himself to drop into a deep sleep.

When he wakes up it is late afternoon going on early evening. Zoro is back and inside the music studio. He's not playing though, surprisingly. Instead the guitarist is sitting uncharacteristically straight in Chopper's desk chair, writing in a notepad on the table.

He has Chopper's expensive headphones on and he's flicking around on the computer listening to something and occasionally stopping to make notes, switching from different colour pens as he does so. Sanji lurks silently in the doorway for a few moments, just watching. Zoro would usually have heard him by now but Sanji knows just how well those headphones block out noise as Chopper uses them sometimes just to tune Luffy's cacophony out.

Zoro is wearing a thick black woollen jumper, with long chewed up sleeves that come to his knuckles. His hair is scruffy, or scruffier than usual anyway. The anxious energy that he was carrying around before seems to be gone but in its place seems to be a kind of... dullness. That's the only way that Sanji can describe it, dullness; as if Zoro's shine has been scrubbed off of him. Almost like the man over there is merely someone pretending to be Zoro.

He hesitates about whether to let Zoro know that he's there or whether to simply leave. He doesn't want to set a precedent for avoiding Zoro, he still wants to be in the band with him but... he doesn't want to make a fool of himself again either. The decision is made for him when Zoro catches a glimpse of him in his peripheral vision and looks around with a slightly surprised look.

"Hey." Zoro says quietly, looking at him carefully.

"Hey." He echoes, leaning against the door frame, although in truth he's actually more hiding behind it slightly, almost as if he was Chopper. The kid does that sometimes when he's nervous; it's kind of sweet really.

"Still hung over?" Zoro smirks at him, grinning to slowly reveal a flash of perfectly white and slightly too pointy teeth. Zoro looks like he could bite right into him, and... okay, no, why is his sex drive taking that thought and running with it? Bad. No.

"Get fucked. What are you even doing anyway?" He asks conversationally throwing out the insult and continuing on.

"Transcribing, Nami and Luffy are all insistent about having everything written down and documented, you know, after..." Zoro trails off and just lets that sentence hang there in the air.

"After Baby stole half of your songs you mean?" Sanji says flatly, not feeling particularly magnanimous towards the source of his hangover right now.

"Yeah, asshole, after that." Zoro responds with a glower.

"So what... oh." Sanji trails off, leaning over Zoro's shoulder he sees his own words on the paper and he realises that Zoro's been sitting here listening to the recording of him singing. A shudder of stupid excitement runs down Sanji's spine, it's stupid because Zoro has just told him why he's doing it but some stupid wishful fantasist part of Sanji's pathetic brain suggests the idea that maybe Zoro is thinking of him, regretting saying no, or maybe he's running over that perfect kiss in his mind as much as Sanji is. Maybe all of that was true and he'd come down to listen to Sanji sing just to get a fix of him or something.

He shakes his head. No, that's a dumb idea. Zoro just has to record what they did is all. Musically, he means.

Zoro is literally only half paying attention to him, with headphones on one ear and off of the one closest to him. He leans forward a little, grumbles under his breath and straightens up again, god he's fidgety today. His pen taps on the paper and he tilts his head thoughtfully for a second or two and then scrawls down some notes in green guitar tablature that clearly mean something to him.

"I'm gonna need Usopp to look over this when he comes back, for any keyboard work. Then we'll need to properly record... Nami's going on about a new album from all the new material." Zoro says to him, not looking up from the paper but tilting his head in Sanji's direction so that Sanji knows that he's talking to him.

"When is he back anyway? Lucky bastard going to Hawaii of all places with his new wife." Sanji huffs bitterly, simultaneously happy for Usopp's love life and envious of it too.

"Tell me about it." Zoro chuckles in a tone low enough to spark some interest from Sanji's nervous system.

"Why does he get to have everything?" Sanji pouts, sinking low in his chair and kicking his feet up onto Chopper's desk. He's feeling especially childish right now.

"Cause he met the love of his life who just so happened to be loaded and married her, the rest of us just have to do without. If Chopper sees you with your feet on his desk he will literally rip your tongue out you know." Zoro adds, flicking a glance at him.

Sanji pokes said tongue out at Zoro whilst the other man scribbles something else down on the paper and un-pauses the recording once more. Sanji squints at Zoro thoughtfully, that's the second time Zoro's said something like that about Usopp. About how his friend has found the love of his life and Zoro... well... hasn't. At the wedding Zoro had sounded lonely and miserable, unloved even. That had all made sense when Sanji had thought that he was alone and had been since Baby. But with this new and secret girlfriend that wasn't the case, so why was he sounding like that? Was he unhappy with his girlfriend?

Sanji doesn't know if he wants Zoro to be unhappy with his girlfriend or not. On the one hand if he is Zoro might realise that he's got a better offer in the form of Sanji, but it would rather hurt to have been turned down by Zoro for someone he doesn't even like all that much. But... well... if Zoro is only being... what... theoretical about all of this then it means that he is happy with his girlfriend and Sanji doesn't stand a chance of being with Zoro any time soon.

Of course... his girlfriend might see all of those pictures and tweets from the others theorising that the two of them were either desperate for each other or perhaps even shortly about to get together. Maybe that would make her leave him and then he could have Zoro all to- no. No no no. That was a shitty line of thought and he shouldn't even entertain it. Aside from serving to get his hopes up  _again_  he didn't really want Zoro to get ditched by some ungrateful girl again, not after the hurt that Baby caused, and more so he hardly wants to be the catalyst for that. Zoro probably wouldn't think of him too favourably if he was. He really wants Zoro to like him, not to think of him as the infuriating blonde that ripped his relationship apart.

"Oi, Earth to curly brow." Zoro says, snapping Sanji out of his self pitying stupor.

"Uh?" He gawps, eloquent as ever.

"I  _said_  that he's back in four days, and I asked you what you thought of the drums Luffy did for your song. How much of a lightweight are you to still be this hung over?" Zoro accuses faintly.

"I'm not a lightweight, I just wasn't listening to you on account of how boring your dumb ass is. And I don't really remember the drums, I was kind of preoccupied by apparently being able to write at all, let alone write and sing at the same time." He points out reasonably and kicks Zoro in the ankle for insulting him, somewhat less reasonably.

"I told you that you could do it." Zoro grins smugly, in a suffocating air of self congratulatory jerkiness. Stupid Zoro.

"For the record, you're an ass and I hate you." he points out flatly.

"Uh-huh." the guitarist retorts unconvinced and then stuffs the giant headphones on Sanji's head, bending his ear uncomfortably as he does so. Sanji hisses and sets them right whist Zoro queues up the song. The headphones are remarkably soft and soundproof; he can see why Chopper likes them.

Zoro plays the song. It's obviously missing most of the instruments since it was just him, Zoro and Luffy when they recorded but still. His voice comes through crystal clear, perfect through the headphones and even putting all ego aside the sound of his voice comes through perfectly in his ears and makes all the hair on the back of his neck stand up and his skin break out in goosebumps.

"Oh my god... my voice." He breathes in wonder. He can't hear anything outside the headphones and Zoro seems to know this as the green haired man flashes him a genuinely bright and pleased smile.

Sanji's eyes flutter closed as he listens. His voice has never sounded like this, sure he's always known that he was good, and he's heard himself recorded before but that was years ago. He's not actually heard any of the new songs that he's recorded with the band as Chopper is slightly infuriatingly precious about not letting anyone hear them until he's perfected his editing. But this... this is raw and his voice is so much better than he ever knew. He's sure that it's not just the headphones or Zoro's guitar, he's better than he used to be, way better.

How has he gotten this good? He opens his eyes again and sees Zoro and instantly knows. Zoro has made him better. Competing with Zoro, trying to keep up with him, trying to impress him, listening to his feedback... all of it has improved his skills, apparently to an incredible degree. He's improved more in the short months that he's known Zoro than he has in years before. At the Baratie he'd been coasting for some time, the performances had stopped challenging him and whilst learning the new lyrics and pulling them off was always interesting it hadn't been challenging him. Zeff must have known that, it must have been why he kicked him out. Shit, he owed the old man a thank you and Zoro too.

He stares at Zoro, his mouth slightly open as he only barely manages to focus on the drums. He loves Zoro more than he did before, he's just... amazing for him. No one else challenges him like this, pushes him just right and goads him into being better whilst trusting what he can do even if Sanji himself doesn't believe that he can do something. But Zoro does believe in him, trusts him.

The song finishes and Zoro pushes the headphones off of Sanji's head, his fingers sort of combing through Sanji's hair as he does so.

"Wow." He breathes, looking at Zoro. A flush flashes across the other man's cheeks and he pulls his hand back and looks away suddenly.

"I've never really heard myself like that." Sanji adds, trying to make it clear that he was talking about the recording rather than his revelation that Zoro is the best thing ever for him or that Zoro just kind of petted him there. A thought flashes through him that Zoro could be the love of his life, it's kind of early (and kind of one sided) to call it, but... he's just so perfect.

"Well, get used to it." Zoro shrugs, staring down at his paper.

"The drums sounded fine to me, what do you think Franky will do with bass?" Sanji questions instead of saying anything about his theories of Zoro maybe being the love of his life.

"Nh, no idea. Gonna have to get him down here and get him to listen to it and play through in order to work it out." Zoro shrugs.

"I could get him if you like, we could go through it now." Sanji offers cheerfully, he's determined to make this as normal as possible. After seeing just how much he owes Zoro for all of his progress, the last thing he wants is for Zoro to think that they can't work together.

"Okay." Zoro says, looking up at him slightly surprised.

Sanji goes to fetch Franky, and ends up bringing everyone, well except the lucky bastard that is Usopp of course. Chopper is a little horrified that they were listening to their recordings without him working on them first, but Nami overruled him as Zoro was following her rules and documenting their work by writing it down.

They settle into their usual places within the studio, somewhere that had felt so nerve wracking the first time now feels... well... feels like where he's meant to be. He watches as Zoro carefully slides his guitar on. Unlike usual though he seems uncomfortable and Sanji wonders anxiously if Zoro can't quite bring himself to be open with Sanji and play, not after he'd kissed him. Zoro shifts from foot to foot and adjusts his guitar as if he can't quite feel right. After a few long moments of this he huffs, takes the guitar off and disappears, to the puzzlement of everyone else in the room.

"Oi Zoro, where... okay... just leave..." Franky mutters as Zoro breezes out of the room and up the stairs. They all stay in their respective places in confusion for a little while and by the time that they're starting to really wonder if Zoro is coming back, the other man returns. Zoro's carrying one of Sanji's breakfast bar stools in one hand and bringing it down.

Zoro comes into the studio again and dumps the high bar stool right where he would usually stand on his side of their shared microphone. Wordlessly Zoro walks back to his guitar, retrieves it and eases himself onto the bar stool. He lodges one foot high up on the rungs of the bar stool and rests the dip in his guitar's body on his thigh, leaving the other to be supported by his arm.

"Comfortable now?" Robin teases from her place on the other side of the glass. Zoro rolls his eyes at her.

Sanji eyes Zoro, he's never ever seen the other man sit down like this and play. He's seen him sprawled across his bean bag and playing but only very occasionally, even then his feet and legs were moving. Zoro can't ever play still, he nearly fell over all the time when Nami taped his feet to the floor, he's a natural fidgeter. But now he's perched on the bar stool, still and careful as if he doesn't want to move. Sanji doesn't know why but it sets his teeth on edge.

They run through Sanji's song several times and it sounds better each time. Though each performance lacks the out of control panic and emotion that he felt when he originally wrote it, he can still remember what it felt like and he can still put that into his words. Interestingly though Zoro spends the entire time watching him when he plays, Zoro's playing is flawless as always but something about how he's holding himself seems off.

Several practices later Zoro's back suddenly snaps straight and he gives a startled yelp. Zoro inches forward off of the chair and pulls his phone out of his back pocket. He stays, half on and half off the chair as he silently reads his phone.

"Oi, what happened to the no phone in the studio rule?" Luffy pouts, pointing a drumstick at Zoro accusingly.

"Luffy's right, Zoro, put it away!" Nami orders him over the microphone from the control room to the side, her pretty eyes watching him intently, though Zoro doesn't really seem to be paying attention.

"I gotta go." He says instead, pulling his guitar off of his shoulder.

"What? Where to?" Franky asks in surprise, eyeing Zoro over his sunglasses.

"Work, the espresso machine is broken. I got to go." Zoro mutters and stands up, quickly taking his guitar off and fleeing from the room.

"They need a proper engineer in there to look at that thing, it's forever breaking." Franky grumbles, setting his bass in its stand and running fingers through his blue coiffed hair in irritation.

"Why don't you go and fix it for good Franky? You're good with machines!" Luffy exclaims, wide eyed with his apparently clever solution.

"Not those kind of machines, though if it keeps dragging Zoro back all the time like it does then I might just go take a look see just to see what's wrong with the damn thing." the mechanic nods wearily.

"I suppose that's the price of being an independent business though, there's no corporation to buy you new equipment, if you can't afford it you just repair and make do." Robin notes wisely.

"Yeah but when it breaks that often..."

Sanji tunes the debate about the merits of small business ownership out. He can't really hear it over his internal thoughts anyway. His mind is looping on two words over and over again.

_Secret girlfriend. Secret girlfriend. Secret girlfriend._

Zoro was disappearing suddenly on an errand which no one could really keep him from. He would be out for an unspecified amount of time and no one would question it. Zoro was definitely seeing his girlfriend.

Sanji's heart aches and he doesn't resist his feet when they pull him out of the room and upstairs. Zoro is already gone, the other man wastes no time it seems. Sanji is already at the garage door before he manages to get a grip of himself.

What the fuck is he doing?

He can't just follow Zoro. For one thing Zoro would almost certainly notice him, for another it is none of his goddamn business if Zoro is indeed seeing his secret girlfriend. He wants Zoro so goddamn bad but  _stalking him_  is not a sensible or sane way to deal with that.

He releases his grip on the garage door and goes back into the house.

He makes his way into the kitchen and leans his head against the cool metal of the fridge door. He wants to know just who he lost Zoro to, just who was so special. Or indeed if they are special to Zoro, with the kinds of things he's saying about love right now Sanji is all turned about and uncertain about what Zoro feels for his girlfriend. But it's not his place to know. He gets a glass from the cupboard and fills it with water, he should get into the habit more of drinking after singing, it's just a good way to take care of his... voice...

His thoughts trail off as he stares at the keys on the opposite counter. They are Zoro's keys. He can tell because they're filled with keys to the coffee shop and the machines in it, it has Zoro's bottle opener and a green pom-pom on it that Robin apparently gave him with it. Sanji knows because he's teased Zoro before about having a mini-Zoro on his keychain.

Zoro has left without his keys, he won't be able to get back in the house without them.

Is it stalking if he's just trying to find the other man to return his keys to him? Perhaps Zoro left them there as an invitation for him to follow him? Perhaps Zoro wants him to come?

Or, perhaps Zoro just forgot his keys and wouldn't appreciate Sanji stalking him on that kind of shitty excuse.

...well.

Keys in hand Sanji is in his car before he can think better of it. He pulls out and onto the gravel driveway and gives the keys on his passenger seat one last glance. There's every possibility that he might not find Zoro, he doesn't know where his girlfriend lives or how long it takes to get there. Perhaps he ought to see it like fate; if he finds Zoro then he was meant to, if he doesn't then he wasn't.

He pulls off, turning right out of their driveway on instinct. He turns right at the next corner and then decides to take a narrower cut through to the side, it's dirt road here and Sanji might be imagining it but he thinks that he sees cycle tracks in the mud here and there.

He drives slowly, keeping an eye out for Zoro and his bike, driving in aimless directions simply hoping to come across the other man. After about twenty minutes of this fruitless driving frustration Sanji is ready to give up his stupid search and go home.

That's when he sees the bike.

Zoro's bike, metallic green and black ditched on the lawn by the wall of someone's house. Sanji pulls up and looks at it. It certainly looks like Zoro's bike but it could be someone else's...

He gets out of his car and shuts and locks it behind him. He walks towards the house. It's a reasonably sized house, two floors and looks perfectly ordinary. There's a garage off to the left and a garden off to the right as this house is right on the corner. He walks nervously to the front door, maybe he should just knock and give Zoro his keys back. What would Zoro say if he knew that he'd followed him? He certainly wouldn't be pleased.

But... a part of him just wants to see just who he got turned down for. He drops his hand and walks around the side of the building curiously peeking in windows, but he doesn't see anyone. He's about to turn back when he hears a pretty voice.

"So it's next month." She says from an upstairs window.

"I know, are you excited? I'm sure you'll do great." Zoro's voice floats down out of the open window, perking Sanji's ears up.

"I could just do without all the bullshit criticism you know? It makes me so angry, everyone judging me like that!" The woman says, her voice stressed and irritated.

Sanji rounds the building, they're talking from the floor above. Thankfully there's a tree nearby which, entirely ignoring his conscience and scruples, he climbs right up. He can see Zoro's back to the window and a woman on the other side, but with Zoro in the way he can't get a good look at the woman lucky enough to be with Zoro. He does manage to see Zoro wrap his arms lovingly around her and bury a kiss in her hair. He's murmuring softly to her and Sanji feels sick. He doesn't know why this was a good idea, seeing the one he wants with someone else.

"What are you stupid?!" The woman snarls and shoves Zoro away hard.

Sanji's jaw just drops. He can see her now and he instantly recognises her, with her curled dark hair and angry eyes. It's Baby, the singer who left them, the one who broke up with Zoro and the band by nearly smacking Zoro's face right off his skull on stage. Though evidently the break up wasn't permanent!

"Of course their opinion matters, you useless ass! It's them that decide how well the tour is received! They decide how well my career goes, or don't you care?!" She shouts, shoving him again. Zoro goes with it, letting her shove put him a few paces away from her. He holds up his hands defensively.

"Of course I care. It's just they don't get to see you for that long, they don't know how good you really are. I know, so don't let them get to you, they'll come around." Zoro says soothingly, making Sanji feel sick with jealousy.

"Well that would be a hell of a lot easier if you were with me like you were supposed to be. When are you going to ditch that stupid little band of yours and work with me again?" Baby demands with a glare.

Sanji gasps and his hackles rise. He can barely wrap his mind around the idea of Baby and Zoro still being together as that's such a mindfuckingly bad idea that he can scarcely think about it all at once. But well... if she makes Zoro happy then... he tries to bring himself to think that it's okay if Zoro is happy but he can't. He can't because a) it's not okay, Baby shouldn't be with Zoro and Zoro deserves so much better than her and b) he's not sure Zoro  _is_ happy with her.

"Please don't do this Baby, we've talked about this before and it never goes well. Let's just... not. Please?" Zoro pleads. The scowl stays on Baby's face and Sanji watches as the guitarist gently reaches for her, his hand ghosting over her arm.

"It's just stress about the show, come on let's just-" Zoro starts softly.

"Don't patronise me!" Baby hisses, snatching her arm away.

"Leave that fucking band of losers and get back where you belong, I'm done tolerating this shit! Especially since you let them get a new singer, like they could just replace me! You're so useless that you couldn't even make him quit when I ordered you to!" Baby snarls at him.

"I tried- but everyone likes him so much and he's really talented and-" Zoro apologises. Sanji's eyes are the size of saucers,  _she_  was the one who'd been driving Zoro's obsession to get rid of him? It explains why he was so hot and cold about it, how he seemed like he liked him at the time and that he didn't want him to go but kept trying to make him anyway. He was just following orders.

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! THEY CAN HAVE HIM! Just quit!" Baby shouts furiously, her eyes are blazing and even from Sanji's vantage point on the tree branch he can see that this isn't Amélie with her soft words, this is Baby and she means business.

"Baby..." Zoro says, quiet and pleading, his hands are halfway between them, half reaching for her but not quite making it, as if he doesn't know what reaching out and touching her will do.

"Don't! You leave them, you leave him too! Don't think I don't hear about the two of you. You're writing with him too? You're creating live with him after you swore you just couldn't do it anymore, when you tried to convince me that it wasn't me! Suddenly you're able to do it with  _him_!" She hisses, her eyes both hurt and angry.

Sanji remembers being told that Zoro couldn't ever write and play and sing at once with her. A smug flash lights up the inside of Sanji's chest, maybe Zoro can do it with him because he's never broken Zoro's heart. He watches them and sees just how on edge Zoro looks; he's not surprised Zoro can't write with her, if he's always this tense around her then of course he couldn't.

"I can't-" Zoro starts, but no sooner have the words left Zoro's lips than Baby's hand snaps out lightning fast and smacks Zoro so hard that Sanji can feel the noise it makes reverberate in his chest. The blow is hard enough to stagger Zoro and bend him to the side, facing the window as it happens. Sanji should probably get the hell out of the way in case either of them sees him but he's simply too stunned to move. He's never seen or heard anyone get slapped that hard. In fact he can see that it was hard enough to split Zoro's lip.

Zoro has his eyes squeezed shut thank god and he watches in horror as the man works his jaw once and straightens up.

Sanji is stuck frozen to the branch, not knowing if he should do something or escape or even what. He's just there, staring. His brain is stuck on some kind of error, he can't quite process what he's seen. Not until Zoro's tongue comes out of his mouth and gingerly runs over his bleeding lip. For some reason it's that which kick starts Sanji's mind again.

How DARE she slap him?! Let alone that hard! It's almost as bad as the time he saw that video online! Well, maybe they're breaking up now. Good. Zoro's too good for her, crazy bitch. She's standing and looking at Zoro with crazed eyes and Zoro hasn't quite stood upright just yet. Slowly he does, his eyes shut until he's facing Baby and then he opens them.

"Don't do this." Zoro says so quietly that Sanji almost doesn't hear him.

"You don't get to tell me what to do. You said you can't leave but you mean you won't, don't you!" Baby snarls at him, her eyes burning with accusation.

Zoro is still and Sanji is begging inside for Zoro to react and leave, to storm out with anger at being attacked, to do something. But Zoro just stands there.

"Answer me!" She demands, snatching up a vase from the table threateningly, this time Zoro backs a little closer to the window.

"Please Baby, put that down, you'll be angry if you break it. Just... just calm down, I'm sorry." Zoro apologises, edging away from her a little more. Though what it is that Zoro possibly has to apologise for Sanji has no idea.

"Tell me you'll leave that useless band and join mine!" Baby shouts, her rage and the hefty crystal vase in her hand frightening Sanji. Sanji's wide eyes flick to Zoro, what's he going to say?

"No." The word is so quiet as it leaves the guitarist's mouth but he may as well have screamed it for the affect it had.

Baby screams like a wildcat and hurls the vase at Zoro's head. The other man only ducks just in time and finds himself covered in a rain of broken glass as the vase explodes against the wall.

Sanji leaps from the tree and lands on the ground. Fuck, this is bad, this is really bad. He should do something, he has to! Zoro could get seriously hurt if he doesn't! But what? Should he call the cops, should he just go up there and defend Zoro himself?

The window above Sanji slams shut as Zoro is thrown against it. He can't hear what Zoro is saying but he can make out that the man is apologising. It evidently doesn't work as he sees Baby's fist fly. Zoro's head snaps to the side as it connects and Sanji's heart seizes.

Blood spatters across the inside of the window, brilliant ruby red as the light from inside shines through it. He stares up, mouth agape, just taking in the expression on Zoro's face. The other man is hurt, physically obviously but clearly emotionally too. Baby is screaming something at him, she hauls him inwards and slams him back against the window again, making it rattle as she yells in his face.

Zoro shakes his head and says something, his left hand presses against the window, smearing in his own blood.

Sanji covers his mouth, not certain if he's going to scream or not.

She's hurting him, she's really hurting him! What... what should he do? If he tries to go in there and stop them then Zoro will know that he followed him and well... he knew Zoro wouldn't be happy before if he'd caught him sneaking around after him. He can see Zoro being even less pleased now, no doubt the other man doesn't want him knowing about this.

Baby's hand snags in the front of Zoro's shirt and she puts all her weight into flinging him away, a crash comes from inside the house and Sanji has no idea what Zoro just hit but it sounds hard and painful. He needs to stop this!

"Now look what you made me do!" Baby shouts from inside, loud enough to be heard through the glass.

Sanji panics and reaches into his pocket for his phone, should he call the cops? Should he climb back up and take a picture as evidence for them? But what if they don't get here in time and she seriously damages Zoro? All it would take would be one serious injury to Zoro's hands and his music career could be over!

He should go in there!

He shoves his phone away again and dashes to the front of the house. He nearly trips over Zoro's bike on his way around. He catches his balance and stares down at Zoro's beloved bike. Despite all its scrapes Zoro would be upset to lose it and if he drags Zoro out of here without it then who knows what Baby will do to it to get revenge?

He picks up the bike and wheels it quickly to his car, thankful for one of the first times ever that it's actually closer to a flatbed truck than it is a car. He throws the bike in the back and runs back to the house. Something else smashes inside and Sanji bangs his fists on the door in desperation. No one comes and Sanji can still hear shouting and smashing inside.

He fists his hands into his hair and freaks out more. Should he kick the door in or something? What's... what's he supposed to do in this situation?

There's a slam from around the back of the building where Sanji was before and a rustling thump. Sanji rushes to the corner of the building to see Zoro drop from the tree by one arm. Zoro leapt out of the window to escape!

"GET BACK HERE, YOU USELESS BASTARD!" Baby screams after him as Zoro sprints off across her lawn and off into the night.

"Fuck!" Sanji curses and hauls ass back to his car, throws himself inside and speeds off in his direction. It doesn't take him long to find Zoro walking by the side of the road.

Zoro is... an utter mess. In the glare of Sanji's headlights he can see that there's a huge amount of blood streaming down from Zoro's nose and mouth, he looks like something from a horror movie.

"Get in the car." He says, leaning over and throwing the door open. Zoro looks surprised to see him for a second but then he shakes his head.

"I'm fine, it's nothing." Zoro says thickly, blood clotting his speech.

"If this is nothing I'd hate to see what something is. Get in, I've got your bike." Sanji orders sternly.

The other man hesitates a little more but edges towards the door, he leans around the edge and peers into Sanji's pick up warily.

"I don't want to bleed on everything. Just give me my bike and I'll get home." He says quietly.

"Goddamnit Zoro, you're hurt, I don't care about my upholstery now get IN!" He snaps hysterically. This time Zoro does.

He climbs in and immediately pulls his sleeves up over his hands and presses them into his bleeding face. The collar of Zoro's big soft woollen top is ripped up and damaged. Sanji would guess that it was either from Baby holding him by it as she punched him in the face or perhaps Zoro ripped it in his escape. Holy shit that actually happened, how was that real? Zoro gingerly presses it to his face before twisting to buckle himself in. Sanji pulls away and tries to focus on driving. Sanji doesn't really need to tell Zoro that he saw, it's pretty obvious after all.

"Please don't tell anyone." Zoro's voice is oh so quiet yet it rips through Sanji like a knife, leaving his nerves raw and fizzing.

He looks over at Zoro in the dim light of the cab and the street lights above. There is still blood running freely from his nose and a nasty looking split on his lip which seems to be swelling shut. His eyes are dark and desperate and it makes Sanji's insides ache to see him, though in a thoroughly unpleasant way and nothing like the pleasant ache of arousal he usually got from Zoro. No, this was the ache of seeing someone you love hurt and knowing you can't undo it.

"Please." Zoro repeats begging him now.

"Is it always like that? This... This isn't the first time is it?" He asks, already knowing the answer to the second question.

"It's none of your business cook! Just swear you won't tell anyone!" he snaps before cursing and pressing his sleeve to his face again as another stream of blood floods from his nose.

"Fuck it, no. I'm cashing in my question, the one where you have to give a straight answer, no matter what remember? Now answer me, how often does this happen?" Sanji demands, pulling over by the side of the road, there's no way he can focus on this and drive at the same time.

"What?" Zoro says, muffled through his sleeve.

"You heard me. Talk. You're a man of your word aren't you?" Sanji says, brokering no compromise here.

Zoro's eyes widen at Sanji's merciless goading. His expression turns to a scowl and he pulls his sleeve away from his face, a trickle of blood comes from one half of his nose and the rest of the lower half of his face is stained in red as Zoro glares at him. It's a truly horrifying look but he won't back down. Zoro seems to sense this and breaks eye contact with him, turning properly to face forward and leaning back in his seat with a pained groan and closing his eyes.

"Well?" Sanji prompts.

"I'm  _thinking_  about it! I don't exactly schedule this shit in you know! I don't look at my calendar and see it's the fifteenth and go 'oh, it's my bi-weekly appointment to get the shit kicked out of me by my girlfriend!' it fucking varies okay?!" Zoro snarls back at him with a glare.

"So give me a rough idea, talk me through it." Sanji says, almost pleading.

Zoro shuffles in his seat and glances out of the window as if he wants to be anywhere but in this car having this conversation.

"Well, obviously she's not here all of the time, she's off touring a lot. So... there's that. Look, she's okay sometimes, if I don't make her angry then-" Zoro starts but Sanji can't help but cut in.

"Wait- what?! This isn't your fault Zoro, this isn't because you pissed her off, that's not okay! You piss me off daily but I've never felt the need to break your face, that's not alright!" He yelps in horror.

"That's different." Zoro mutters but helpfully doesn't explain how.

A horrifying idea occurs to Sanji.

"Those... those bar fights you get in and the bike accidents. They're..." He trails off wide eyed.

"I've never been in a bar fight in my life." Zoro mumbles quietly and doesn't look at Sanji.

Sanji's heart does this awful stutter stop thing and he remembers cleaning Zoro up, patching him up and wiping the blood off of him. Some random bastard in a bar hadn't done that to Zoro, Baby had.

"How long has this been going on? How long have you two been together again?" He asks quietly.

"We never broke up. Well- no, not permanently. Off and on I've been with her five years." The other man answers guiltily. Sanji's mind reels, after everything Baby did Zoro never stopped seeing her. He wasn't kidding when he told him that the others hated his secret girlfriend and wouldn't approve- and they didn't know about this!

"And how long has she been punching you in the face when she gets mad?" He asks, not wanting to know the answer but suddenly realising that the vicious slap across the face that he'd found so amusing the very first time he saw it is now anything but.

Zoro shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

"If you don't talk I'm definitely not going to promise to keep my mouth shut." Sanji says flatly, and it's not a threat, it's a promise.

"Only regularly, I mean... only really for... the last two or... three years." The guitarist flushes clearly uncomfortable.

Sanji's mind reels. That means... That means it was happening whilst she was still with the band, it means it happened in their house.

"What do you mean 'only really'? When was the first time?" He asks.

"When I was sixteen. But that was different, she was drunk and she felt horrible as soon as she realised what she'd done. Look, she's been through a lot and it's complicated so just... leave it alone, we're fine, it's not a problem." Zoro argues. Sanji feels like he's swallowed an eel, his stomach is doing something cold and slithery and he thinks he might throw up.

"Why haven't you told anyone?" He asks numbly.

"Because." Zoro sniffs, rubbing more of the blood off of his nose gingerly - it seems to have stopped streaming so much now.

"Because I don't want their pity and... because it's my fault." Zoro says quietly, his fingers pulling anxiously at the hem of his sleeves and unravelling the thread there.

"How could this possibly be your fault, Zoro?" Sanji questions through gritted teeth. Baby has really gotten her claws into Zoro's mind if he thinks that any of this could possibly be his fault in any way at all.

"You wouldn't understand." Zoro answers instead pulling a thread out from his sleeve, Sanji watches as it slowly unravels the fabric around Zoro's hand, the woollen thread is sodden with blood.

"Try me." he says in a raw voice.

"It's... it's my fault because I once told her she could." the other man says quietly, making Sanji's mind reel numbly.  _What?_

"The first time it happened she was drunk and so upset, her father had come to see her and scared the life out of her. He used to smack her around as a kid, that's how I got that big scar on my chest, defending her from him, at least until he went to prison anyway. She was just so freaked out after that she ended up getting trashed and she lost control. When she realised what she'd done afterwards she tried to kill herself, saying that she was turning into him and she didn't want to live like that." Zoro explains, pain showing up on his face as clear as day.

"I couldn't lose her Sanji, not like that. I told her that I didn't matter, that if it was what she needed then it was okay. I thought... shit, I thought that because I had about a foot and several stone of weight on her that there was only so much damage she could do. I didn't think she'd..." Zoro trails off with a hollow laugh and gestures to the bloody mess that is his current appearance.

"Apparently practice is a great teacher." Zoro adds bitterly, scowling at his own feet.

Sanji reaches out and grabs Zoro's shoulder, he lets his grip become a little more gentle when he feels Zoro flinch under his touch, he must still be jumpy from his encounter with Baby.

"So... tell her that it's not okay. Because, newsflash: this isn't okay." He says softly, Zoro scowls and bats his hand away.

"Gee, like I hadn't thought of that already. I told her that two years ago and she picked up a mic stand and fractured my collar bone with it." Zoro argues back, his eyes angry.

"It doesn't matter what you once said Zoro, this isn't okay and it's still not your fault, no matter what you said. I mean, if I told you that you could kill me and you did it, it'd still be murder no matter what I said, right?" He reasons, looking intently at Zoro.

"That's different." The other man mumbles, slouching in his seat and unravelling the hem of his sleeve even more. Again, he helpfully does not go into how it's different.

Sanji rubs his palms into his face and tries to scoop his scattered thoughts together.

"Can I ask you something else?" He says after a moment or two. He combs his hands through his own hair, trying to calm himself down a little with the action.

"I don't have to answer." Zoro mutters, yanking at the thread in his sleeve.

"Why are you with her?" Sanji asks earnestly. He looks at the surprised Zoro and waits for his answer. He wasn't going to ask why Zoro hasn't left her because Zoro would no doubt be expecting that and probably have some great distracting rant in his head, certainly well practiced from what he probably tells himself over and over.

"I..." Zoro stumbles, staring at him wide eyed with surprise.

"I care about her." He answers finally, his dark eyes not quite meeting Sanji's.

Sanji bites his lip and thinks that Zoro doesn't feel for her what he perhaps used to years ago. He certainly doesn't trust her like he once must have, it would be hard to when you don't know if any given conversation is going to end up with something bleeding or broken. He suddenly understands Zoro's despair at the idea that he might never meet his soul mate, that he'll just be stuck where he is forever. Zoro can't see any way out and he's just... surviving. That's no way to live.

"Isn't this supposed to be the point where you tell me to leave her then? Where you tell me that it'll be okay and that you don't think any less of me and blah, blah, blah?" Zoro accuses hotly, his scowl sharp.

Sanji's heart aches and his tilts his head and looks at Zoro, really looks at him. No one else knows this about him, everyone else thinks he's at work or out at a bar or off with other friends whenever this happens. Zoro's made it so that no one asks where he is and he's got so good at covering his injuries up that no one even knows they should be asking most of the time. Zoro's so good at lying, something that had set Sanji's teeth on edge and clearly this was why it had, he's so practiced that no one will ever guess. Zoro's made it so that he thought no one would or could ever find him.

Sanji doesn't know if Zoro wanted to be found or not. He clearly isn't happy with the fact that Sanji knows what happens, he can see the flush of embarrassed shame on his cheeks, even through the blood. The way Zoro's lashing out verbally, trying to drive Sanji away or into saying something terrible, something that Zoro can hold up and say 'this is why you can't help'

But if Zoro didn't want out he never would have got in the car, he never would have let this conversation happen and he certainly wouldn't have answered Sanji's questions. Zoro needs his help, wants it to he just... can't bring himself to think about it, let alone ask.

"You know this isn't right and I'm not going to insult your intelligence by implying that you hadn't thought of just leaving her before now." Sanji says shaking his head.

"Seeing as you've not left her I'm assuming that you have a reason." He adds quietly. Zoro looks away and stares off into the night with a scowl.

"Fuck." Zoro curses under his breath and presses the heels of his palms into his forehead and curls up in on himself. Sanji gets the impression that this conversation isn't going how Zoro thought it might.

"I can't just... she'd kill herself if I left, she's told me a million times. I can't live with myself if she..." Zoro says, quiet and broken.

"Zoro..." Sanji breathes and reaches over, his fingers sliding into Zoro's hair. Oh god, he still loves him, of course he does. Zoro's hurting right now and all Sanji wants to do is to pick him up and protect him and it's so fucking bizarre because Zoro is usually the one that knows what's going on, he's the one that everyone looks to, Zoro is the last person that Sanji would usually thinks needs looking after. Except for... well... suddenly all the sleeplessness and anxious behaviour is making sense.

"Fuck, stop that. I know you think I'm weak now but I'm not a fucking cat." Zoro snaps after a few seconds, shaking Sanji's hand off. Sanji obligingly pulls back, if Zoro doesn't want him to touch him right now then he can respect that.

"I don't think you're weak. I don't... I don't know if I could deal with this in your place, I'm bad enough at saying no to women as it is." Sanji admits honestly. Zoro looks up at him from his hands and a weak smile tugs at the corner of Zoro's mouth.

"Yeah, you're right. You're a mess." Zoro teases weakly, seeming a little more like the Zoro that Sanji knows.

"Oh, I know. A complete wreck, just like you say." he agrees with a small smile in return. He catches sight of some blood matted in Zoro's green hair and the small flame of levity is snuffed out inside Sanji's mind.

"Look... I'll make you a deal. I won't tell the others, if only because I don't think it'd actually help and also you'd never speak to me ever again." he sighs, scratching the back of his neck.

"True." Zoro nods, looking a little heartbreakingly hopeful.

"But, I'll only agree to that if you promise that you'll talk to me about this. That you'll let me help you, that you'll come to me and at least let me try to talk you out of ever going back to her." He offers. Zoro squints at him distrustfully.

"It won't work." Zoro answers flatly.

"That's my problem. Do we have a deal?" Sanji asks sternly.

"Deal." Zoro shrugs.

Sanji relaxes a little.

"Okay then. Right... let's get you to a doctor." He says, turning his car back on and indicating to pull out.

"Whoa, no way. No doctors. Not whilst I'm still conscious, which I obviously am. I can patch this up on my own, I've had much worse." Zoro yelps, grabbing the wheel and stopping Sanji from pulling out. Sanji looks over at Zoro's wide panicked eyes and his heart throbs painfully.

"Fine." He mutters, knowing a losing battle when he sees one and pulling out to head back home. Zoro makes them stop part of the way home so that he can ditch his ruined black sweater into some business' dumpster, leaving him in just a black t-shirt under there. There's a raw scrape on his elbow that Zoro doesn't seem to have noticed, it's not bleeding and really not all that bad. It's the kind of stupid scrape that Sanji wouldn't even think twice about if he did it to himself. He doesn't know if it's just the last straw, the final thing that pushes it past his barrier to handle shit today but just the sight of that scrape makes Sanji want to pull the car over and yank Zoro close into him and never let him go. He manages to restrain himself from acting that out as he drives home, but only just.

Zoro refuses to go in the front door and instead declares that he's going to climb up the tree that leads to their hallway window, apparently that's precisely where he sneaks in and out of. He rushes up the stairs, thankfully running into no one else and makes it to their hallway window just as Zoro's climbing through it.

He and Zoro wordlessly go to their shared bathroom, Zoro stopping to retrieve one of his secret ice packs from his secret freezer. He throws it in the bath when they get in there and opens up the cupboard, taking in his expansive medical supplies. Sanji knows now why he needs all of them and he really wishes that he didn't.

Zoro turns on the hot tap and yanks his t shirt off and bends down to wash his face clear of blood. Sanji gasps, all up the side of Zoro's ribs is a hideously painful looking fresh bruise, or at least a day or so old. The whole thing is easily bigger than Sanji's spread palm. His mind flashes to how awkwardly Zoro was holding his guitar this morning and he imagines Zoro's guitar on him and sees that the bruise is right where the instrument would usually rest. No wonder he was so stiff then.

"Oh Zoro..." He breathes, his hand not quite touching as he can see how painful it must be.

The rest of Zoro's back is littered with fresh red marks, things that will becomes bruises and some that are already heading that way. There's a straight one that runs under Zoro's shoulder blades and Sanji thinks that it looks like the edge of a table, it would explain the crash he heard earlier. There's a set of shallow half moon scratches on Zoro's tricep and Sanji's hand does ghost the edges of that.

"You're hurt." he says stupidly.

"Really?" Zoro grumbles flatly and leans down to wash his face off. Sanji ignores him and pulls anti-septic and cotton wool out of the cupboard and sets about disinfecting Zoro's scratches, there's even black nail varnish flecks in some of them.

Zoro rubs that witch hazel stuff for bruises into all of his new and old marks, the ones that he can't quite reach Sanji does in silence, working over Zoro's damaged body with cautious and gentle fingers. It's funny really, he's never ever wanted to hurt a woman in his life but right now he wouldn't shed a single fucking tear if a truck ploughed into Baby's house and killed her.

"You've got glass in your hair, come here." Sanji says quietly, pulling the shower head off of the wall and turning it on.

"You don't have to do this, I'm more than used to-" Zoro protests weakly.

"You're not dealing with this on your own any more, that was our deal, now get your ass over here." Sanji orders, pointing to the edge of the bath.

"Asshole." Zoro mutters, but it lacks its usual venom. Zoro kneels at the edge of the tub and presses his ice pack to his face whilst Sanji busies himself with washing all of the shards of smashed glass vase out of Zoro's green hair. There's blood in there too from where a few pieces scratched him, it's nothing serious and head wounds always bleed like hell anyway. Slightly disoriented Sanji stares at the red washing down the drain, strangely accompanied by a hint of green in the water that must be Zoro's hair dye.

Fuck.

He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to get a grip on reality as he turns the shower off. He drops a clean towel on Zoro's head and lets the other man dry himself off. Zoro sits on the edge of the bath and does so, eventually appearing from under his towel as he wraps it around the back of his neck, the gold of his earrings shining bright against the black towel.

Zoro's face looks a lot better with the blood washed off, there's only a red mark across his nose and cheek, which will probably fade, and a split in his lip to give any real indication of what had happened. Sanji is sat on the floor looking at him and still reeling from the sudden turn of events.

"I bet you're glad I said no when you kissed me. You dodged a bullet there, avoiding all of this." Zoro says quietly, looking off to the side. Sanji looks at Zoro, bruised and hurt but still trying to be funny. Failing, but trying.

"No. I wish you'd said yes, but said no to her a long time ago. I wish this wasn't happening to you at all." He answers instead. Zoro looks at him in surprise before looking away again, a hint of a flush on his cheeks.

"You're stuck with me now, I'm not leaving you to deal with any of this on your own." He says, gently kicking Zoro's ankle to get his attention.

"I'm not going anywhere." He reiterates.

After a moment or two Zoro nods silently.


	11. Chapter 11

Sanji sprawls on his bed in the afternoon studiously trawling through the internet for information. Despite finding Zoro bloody and bruised last night the other man was alarmingly fine this morning. Zoro was carrying on as if everything was fine and nothing was amiss at all, no one else was even aware of any change in Zoro's behaviour and aside from one technical question from Franky regarding the espresso machine that supposedly broke, no one asked anything about where Zoro had been.

Zoro ate meals as if everything was normal, he talked to their friends as if everything was normal, he teased Chopper like everything was normal. No one else had any way of knowing that beneath Zoro's Aerosmith T-shirt he was covered in bruises and marks from Baby. Any hint of the punch he'd taken to his face was gone, either through Zoro's quick healing or through make up Sanji didn't know.

To all observers everything was perfectly fine in Zoro's world.

Only... only it wasn't as Sanji well knew. The fact that Zoro was acting so calmly is what disturbs Sanji the most. He wants to curl up and die when he realises that this  _is_  normal for Zoro, hiding bruises and scrapes, lying about where he's been. All of that is in fact how Zoro always conducts his life. It breaks his heart to think that Zoro is so used to keeping that big of a secret from everyone that he barely seems to think about it, he can't stand to think that Zoro keeps so much of himself from people or that he's bearing such a huge burden alone.

He's determined to get Zoro out of his awful situation no matter what, but he knows from his experience trying to force Zoro to do anything is a one way ticket to bitching and uncooperative behaviour. Besides, as he said, Zoro knows that his situation is wrong and if it was so simple as just deciding to up and leave then he would have done so long ago.

So he does what he does whenever he has any kind of important life question. He googles it.

Unfortunately the results seem to bring up a lot of alternately irritating and useless information with only a few nuggets of helpful information in there. There's sponsored ads for women's domestic violence shelters, which is good and all but hardly useful to Zoro as he neither lives with Baby nor is a woman. Site after site refers to Sanji's specified "friend" as a she. The rest all seem to use gender neutral terms but they're not much help either.

Most of the advice seems to revolve around getting a friend to admit that what they're experiencing is abuse and isn't okay, but... Zoro's aware enough to know that he's being abused and yet he's still staying.

It's not until he starts digging around different kind of advice about abuse and the signs of it that he hits upon something interesting and possibly helpful.

"Good luck finding anything helpful there." Zoro's voice says suddenly from behind him, nearly startling Sanji off of his bed.

Sanji squeaks and rolls onto his side and looks up to see Zoro leaning over him. Zoro smirks and drops onto the bed and slowly sprawls himself out over the cover.

"You're concerned, it's kind of sweet." Zoro smirks at the ceiling.

"Of course I'm concerned, you ass." Sanji snaps, flushing red and pulling his laptop shut before carefully putting it on the windowsill above his bed.

"Well, like I said, you're not going to find anything useful there. It's all shit." Zoro says confidently.

"So what you're trying to do is to convince me that you're beyond help and I should forget the whole thing?" Sanji asks, raising an eyebrow. He's really not that dumb, despite what Zoro thinks.

"If you could that'd be great. But no, I just mean that there's no help out there for me on the internet. It's all about women, or if you do find advice for men it's pretty much assuming that you're banging a guy and they're the ones kicking the shit out of you. It's useless." Zoro says with a frown and adjusts himself on Sanji's bed so that he's got his arms folded underneath his head as he looks up at the ceiling.

"I find it interesting for someone who acts like everything is fine you've apparently looked for help online." Sanji says instead. That gets a reaction out of Zoro. The guitarist sends a scowl his way.

"That's not the point. Or are you telling me that you found something useful that I didn't?" Zoro asks. Sanji doesn't say anything.

"Yeah, I thought not." Zoro laughs flatly and shuts his eyes.

"How are your bruises? Does it hurt?" he asks, concerned.

"They feel like rainbows and kittens. What do you think they feel like, moron?" Zoro answers flatly.

"Well can I see them, dickbag?" Sanji growls irritated, seriously, no one gets under his skin quite like Zoro does. He's not sure if that's a good thing. Zoro makes a nonchalant noise in the back of his throat and doesn't move except for a little shoulder jerk that might be a shrug. Zoro clearly isn't going to just show him then.

"Fine." Sanji grumbles and kneels up on the bed.

He sets one knee between Zoro's legs and the other outside them, his right hand rests on the bed by Zoro's side and from this angle he has a good view down on Zoro. The guitarist's eyes open and look up at him curiously.

"Tell me if I hurt you by accident." he mumbles softly and slides his fingers cautiously up under Zoro's shirt. If Zoro won't show him then he'll have to go and see himself.

"What do I do if you hurt me on purpose?" Zoro asks. Sanji jolts and looks at him. Zoro smirks, but the delay is enough for him to know that it was not a joke at first, he was just playing it off as one and that speaks volumes.

"I would never." He says in horror. The guitarist laughs again, humourlessly.

"Go on then." Zoro grins, watching him intently now but Sanji looks down and ignores him.

His fingers slide over the hard ridge of muscle and smooth skin that is Zoro's hip and makes his way cautiously up Zoro's stomach. He feels the muscles flutter under his touch as he pushes Zoro's shirt higher. The first bruise appears, it's darker than yesterday but around the edges it looks to be healing.

"You sure you've not got a cracked rib here?" Sanji asks, looking up at Zoro.

"No, I've had one of those before. This is just muscle bruising." Zoro answers and drops his head back on the bedspread below him, seeming to relax.

Sanji shifts his balance, moving his hand to by Zoro's head and working his hand up Zoro's shirt higher. The bruises that he can see now are smaller, mottled and healing; they'll probably be gone in no time at all. For all his worry Zoro does seem to be more or less okay, physically at least.

"You look good, actually. Better than I thought you would." he says quietly.

"Gee, thanks." Zoro laughs at him, his smile teasing and sarcastic. Sanji rests his hand on Zoro's bare stomach and feels Zoro's laughter ripple through him, he can't help but wonder as he watches the movement whether it hurts the biggest bruise made by Baby's knee in his side.

He tugs at the other side of Zoro's shirt, trying to pull that part up too. Obligingly Zoro shifts his hips up so that the part of his shirt previously pinned under him can be lifted. Sanji is startled by another gasp, he looks up but Zoro isn't looking at him, Zoro's looking at Sanji's open bedroom door.

Sanji's... open... bedroom door. Shit.

"Don't mind me!" Nami squeaks, quickly shutting the door after her and rushing off down the stairs in a clatter of high heels.

"Nami! No- I didn't- this-" Sanji yelps, sitting up and staring at the shut door. Zoro laughs harder, it may as well have been the funniest fucking thing he's seen in his life from the way he's acting. Sanji scowls down at the man between his legs. He wouldn't think it was so funny if they'd been facing the other way and Nami had seen Zoro's bruised up side instead.

"Your  _face_!" Zoro howls with glee at Sanji's reddened appearance.

"Shut it! Now she's gonna think that you changed your mind!" Sanji snaps, grabbing one of his pillows and throwing it in Zoro's grinning face.

"Wait, what?" Zoro frowns, leaning up on his elbows and pulling the pillow off of him.

"I didn't tell her anything before you get that in your head, not really. The day after I... after that she kept pestering me to ask you out, saying it was obvious that I liked you and she was convinced you'd say yes." Sanji says quietly, not meeting Zoro's eyes.

He falls off of him and leans against his bedroom wall, staring in the vague direction of the bedroom door but not really focusing on it or anything else.

"Of course by then I knew better. So I tried to convince her to drop it and she said that she'd ask you out for me if I didn't, she meant it to. So I said... I said that I already had and you said no. I told her I didn't want to go into why and she dropped it." Sanji continues.

"I figured since you'd told me that your girlfriend was a secret you wouldn't appreciate me broadcasting that, so I didn't, before you panic. But now she's going to think that you changed your mind." he sighs.

It really doesn't help that he wishes this whole thing with Baby was a horrible nightmare and Zoro had just changed his mind. He'd far rather be leaning above Zoro on his bed feeling him up than hovering over him checking his injuries. But apparently things don't work out like Sanji wants them to.

"So ignore her, let her think what she likes. It's no big deal," Zoro says, rolling his eyes and shoving his shirt back down before settling back into place on Sanji's bed.

"But she'll be happy for me, what am I supposed to say?" he protests.

"I don't care. Say we were just fooling around, or say that I changed my mind back, or that it was just a misunderstanding. Lie, whatever. Or, and here's a radical idea, tell her that it's none of her fucking business!" the green haired man exclaims.

"I can't do that!" Sanji protests.

"Whatever, I don't care." Zoro grumbles and shuts his eyes again.

Sanji watches him for a little while. Can he really just lie to Nami like that? He doesn't think he can, aside from not wanting to lie to a lady he's not a great liar. Not like Zoro apparently is, but then Zoro's had years of practice on lying about who he's with, that he's fine when he's not. This is just a regular day for Zoro even though Sanji's world has been tipped upside down.

"I don't get how you can act so normal about all of this. The lying, the secret keeping, your entire goddamn relationship with Baby. How can you be so normal?" he says after a while, staring at Zoro who seems perfectly calm as he's laid out on his bed like he could just drift off to sleep.

"I am normal. I get that it's not... okay. But it's just pain, I can deal with it. Ending it would be worse." Zoro answers without even opening his eyes.

"And what about finding that person who loves you? Your soulmate or whatever, like you said at the wedding. How's that going to happen if you're stuck with her being broken and bruised all the time?" Sanji says softly.

"...like I said. Not all of us are as lucky as Usopp." Zoro mumbles, his brow pinching regretfully at that.

"Well, I did find something useful online. And since you've literally just insisted that it's nothing but mere pain then I'm sure you won't mind proving me wrong, hm?" He baits him, knowing that Zoro can't just turn down a challenge like that.

"Sure, blondie, shoot. I warn you though, if it's one of those dumbass PSA's about how the smallest injures can kill I may just die from boredom." Zoro shrugs and gives a bored yawn to emphasise his point. Sanji tuts and picks his laptop up again from the windowsill, opening it to the page he was on. He goes back to the beginning and starts again.

"It's a quiz. Question one; 'I am anxious, nervous or worried about my partner's attitudes or moods.' Don't try to say no to that one, you've written  _songs_  about that." Sanji prompts.

"Fine." Zoro grumbles with a frown.

"I feel guilty about my partner's resentment." Sanji reads aloud.

"What does that mean?" Zoro questions, opening his eyes now.

"You tell me." Sanji answers, kind of getting into this whole psychology thing.

"You mean, do I feel bad when I piss her off and make her stupidly angry? Why wouldn't I? She certainly makes me regret it." the guitarist scowls.

"I'll put that as a yes. 'I am anxious, nervous or worried about my partner's anger.'" he moves on to the next question.

"That's the same as the first question!" Zoro objects.

"It's not, but that you read it as the same is interesting. 'I get anxious, nervous or worried about my partner's sarcasm, criticism, frowns, glares or gestures.'" Sanji reads out.

"It's not like she's going to hurt my feelings. No." the other man says, jutting his jaw out defiantly as if this is proof that Sanji is wrong.

"I- shit all these questions begin the same. This one is about whether her giving you the cold shoulder or stonewalling you makes you anxious and shit." Sanji says clicking on the screen.

When Zoro doesn't reply Sanji looks around the edge of his laptop to see Zoro staring wide eyed up at the ceiling. If Sanji's not mistaken he's a little paler now and Sanji watches in shock as Zoro swallows thickly and tries to work his mouth.

"I don't want to talk about that. It's a bad sign if she- just, yes. Next." Zoro says tightly. Sanji really wants to follow that up but he supposes that he has to respect Zoro's boundaries and that when he says no he means it, it's not like anyone else does so someone should.

"I edit my thoughts before I speak and second-guess my behaviour before I do anything, in fear that it might set her off or cause the silent treatment." Sanji reads aloud, moving on.

"What is this? Where did you find this?" Zoro demands, kneeling up and trying to grab Sanji's laptop. He ducks out of the way and plants a foot in an area of Zoro's chest he knows in unbruised.

"Ah- no! Humour me. Answer the question." He insists.

"Yes." Zoro answers through gritted teeth and makes another swipe for the laptop. Sanji avoids him and clicks his answer.

"My partner is fine one minute and into a tirade the next- well, I can answer that one on my own from seeing how quickly she went from being in your arms to hurling a vase at your head. Next question. I feel tense when my partner comes into the room." He continues reading.

"Yes. What's this proving again?" Zoro grumbles, folding his arms, evidently having realised that he's not getting the laptop off of Sanji.

"When I walk by my partner, my shoulder's tense, until we get past each other." Sanji reads out.

"I'd be an idiot to think that her being slightly away from me made a difference. No." Zoro answers. Sanji doesn't think that's what the question was getting at so he clicks yes instead.

"I think that if I just tried harder things might be all right." he says from the next slide.

The look on Zoro's face is positively heartbreaking, he looks so hurt and torn.

"Oh Zoro, no. No, there's nothing you should be doing, this isn't you. It's not your fault." Sanji insists, putting his laptop aside and leaning up to tangle a hand in Zoro's hair and make the other man look at him.

"It used to be easier to not piss her off, but now it happens all the time and I don't know-" Zoro cuts himself off, shaking his head and pulls away from Sanji.

Sanji chews his lip and clicks the next screen. This one reads 'I feel that nothing I do is good enough' he doesn't have to ask, nor does he want to. He clicks yes and goes to the results page.

The result flashes up on the screen, it doesn't surprise Sanji from what he's seen but it does make him sad. He flips the screen to show Zoro.

"It's not just the pain Zoro, she's doing more to you than hurting your body, she's in your head too." He says quietly. The screen is displaying Zoro's results showing a high likelihood of emotional abuse and listing off the common signs of abuse.

"I'm not doing this." Zoro mutters and quickly climbs off of Sanji's bed and heads towards the door.

"You came in here for a reason Zoro and I think it's because you wanted help!" Sanji calls after him.

"And what is it that you want? Just what are you getting out of this?!" Zoro demands angrily.

"What do you mean? I'm trying to help." Sanji says looking at Zoro with confusion and hurt on his face.

"No one just "tries to help", you want something. Do you think that you can just save the poor tortured love interest and then ride off into the sunset? Do you think that you can do this just to get me?! That's what you want isn't it?!" Zoro accuses hotly.

Sanji feels a flare of indignant anger rise up inside of him, how dare Zoro accuse him of that? He shoves the reaction down though. This is clearly just a defence mechanism of Zoro's, which means he's hitting close to the mark.

"That's strange," Sanji says calmly "last night you were convinced that I would never want you again, now I'm only doing this to get in your pants. If you're going to pick a crazy theory, at least be consistent."

"Just- just stay out of it!" Zoro snaps and leaves, letting Sanji's bedroom door bang open behind him. Sanji winces, he's not sure if that was a good idea or not. What on earth is he supposed to do then? He can't just leave it like this. He's pretty sure that Zoro did want his help though, why else would he have come inside? Sanji lies down on his bed and thinks for a while, he's never really plotted about how to break a relationship up before so he's no idea where to start.

Should he try and show Baby that he knows or suspects what's going on? That would probably be a bad idea, she might hurt Zoro, especially if she thought he told him. What else then?

Baby already thinks that there is something going on between them, at least that's the impression he got from what he overheard. He could understand how she might come to that conclusion, from the photos. Perhaps she might break up with Zoro if she thought that was true. In fairness, Zoro was reluctant to cheat on her, though whether that was because of his morals or he was afraid of her Sanji doesn't know. Probably not a good idea either.

He supposes he could return to his original plan of trying to convince Zoro to leave her, but in the car he had seemed reluctant to do so saying that she would kill herself. In the darkest corners of his mind Sanji isn't too sure this would be a bad thing, if it wasn't for the way that it would hurt Zoro of course. How he is going to manage that when Zoro has had years to leave her and chosen not to he doesn't know. However impossible it might be it does seem like the best plan though, but just how could he do it? Clearly pointing out to Zoro precisely what was wrong with his relationship with her wasn't going to work, it just made him defensive and angry. Whilst he wants to challenge what was wrong with his and Baby's relationship he didn't want to press too hard and have Zoro stop telling him things altogether. He needed to somehow be firm about Baby's abuse being wrong, but not judgemental to Zoro about it. He needed Zoro to feel like he could come to him for help, which Zoro clearly needed.

This all sounds good in theory, but he has no idea how he was actually going to do it. Remaining calm and nonjudgmental when Zoro came and told him things would be a good idea, but how is he supposed to do that when seeing every injury on his body made him furious? How could he sit and listen acceptingly when Zoro told him how much he needed Baby when Sanji wanted nothing more than to drag him away from her forever? No one should be allowed to hurt Zoro like that, but he couldn't very well just hold to Zoro hostage to stop him from seeing her, if he did that he would almost be no better than Baby.

So, however hard it may be he was going to have to listen and not freak out. Hopefully with enough gentle persuasion Zoro might start to see things properly and maybe, just maybe, work up the guts to leave Baby for good. Still, even though really he knows it's not true, he can't help but wonder about what Zoro said. Is something of why he's doing this just because of his own self-interest? After all the only reason Zoro turned him down was because of Baby. He can't completely deny that it has anything to do with his decision, but it's certainly not what's driving it, he is concerned about Zoro. Terrified for him even.

Sanji returns to his research.

When Sanji goes downstairs to make dinner, he finds Zoro in the garage ignoring him and fixing his bike. Sanji doesn't even know what the hell on Zoro's bike it is that he keeps fixing but he leaves him to it. If he wants to sulk he can. He needs to do more research but there's only so much about the situation that the Internet can tell him. What he really needs is someone who is in Zoro's head but not so much so that they would guess why Sanji is asking. Asking Robin would be a bad idea she is far too clever and would work out why he's asking for too quickly. No, he needs someone nice but dumb. At that moment, captain nice but dumb walks right into the kitchen.

"Luffy! I was hoping to see you." Sanji says with a cunning smile as Luffy walks into the room.

"Oh? Is it because there is food?!" The drummer asks excitedly looking around trying to find his meal with excited and hungry eyes.

"No," Sanji says flatly, "but there will be food if you answer my question."

That gets about 110% of Luffy's attention. The drummer hops up onto one of the barstools and looks at Sanji like an overly excited puppy.

"The wedding got me thinking," Sanji lies, "do you think Zoro and Baby were ever happy? I mean, since they were together for years, they were happy right?"

"That's a weird question." Luffy says tilting his head curiously.

"I guess sometimes they were. Or at least Zoro was, Baby always seemed on edge or angry. Why do you wanna know?" Luffy asks with a frown. Sanji needed to come up with an explanation for his question, otherwise even Mr. Nice-But-Dumb here would work out something was up.

"I just figured that they had to be, or else why would Zoro stay with her? Or at least, why would he have stayed with her for so long?" Sanji answers, sort of honestly.

"Oh! That's easy!" Luffy laughs delightedly.

"Uh, it is?" Sanji says in bewilderment.

"Sure! He felt guilty." Luffy declares.

"That doesn't make any sense." Sanji says.

"Well, you know about Baby's past, right? About her father?" Luffy asks, sounding a little worried that he might have said something he shouldn't have.

"He used to hurt her, yeah?" Sanji says turning to look at Luffy properly, his hand on his hip.

"Yeah, I guess Zoro felt bad that he couldn't stop him sooner. You know what he's like, he feels like it's his fault." Luffy says with a shrug.

"But that's crap. Zoro was just a kid, there's nothing he could've done more than he did. And didn't he get the guy put in jail? What more could he have done?" Sanji frowns, he knows exactly how much Zoro is prone to blaming himself. Especially where Baby was concerned.

"But why would that make Zoro stay with her? How is that related?" Sanji asks.

"Well, it messed her up. So I guess Zoro felt like he should stay with her, to fix her, or whatever." Luffy shrugs.

"But… That's just…" Sanji doesn't have any words. He wants to say that it's stupid but he can't quite make himself do that, he knows what Zoro has been through so the last thing he wants to do is to imply that the other man is stupid. He decides to ask the next question that he wants to know the answer to.

"Do you think that if Baby hadn't broken up with him, he might have left her?" Sanji asks, as neutrally as he can.

"I dunno." The drummer answers softly.

Sanji thinks that answer isn't especially helpful. He does know that Zoro didn't leave her after she broke up with him, on the contrary, he got back together with her afterwards. He wonders what it was that Baby had to say or do to get him to agree to that. What he really wants to know is whether or not Zoro might actually break up with her on his own given enough time and Sanji's reassurance. Sanji suspects that he won't. He seriously hopes that he's wrong, but the doubt is there.

"Why are you asking?" Luffy asks with a frown.

"I don't know, I guess because I'm just singing songs that Zoro wrote when he was in that situation I can't help but wonder what it would've been like. I wonder if he would have gotten out on his own," Sanji half lies. He supposes that is part of what he's wondered before, but it's not his main reason for asking now.

"Anyway," Sanji begins, changing the subject, "wasn't I making you food?"

The other man is predictably distracted by this, bouncing up and down in his chair as Sanji places food in front of him.

When Zoro doesn't show up to dinner that night Sanji fears the worst, especially as Zoro isn't in the house anywhere when he goes looking. When he asks the others all inform Sanji that he's out at work, or something, they add with a shrug. Sanji grits his teeth and leaves the kitchen door open, knowing full well that Zoro will probably have to walk past the door in order to get inside. And that is unless he climbs the tree out back again.

Sanji busies himself totally not waiting up for Zoro by making sweet treats in the kitchen. He makes candied apples for Chopper, sweet tea recipes for Brooke and Robin, cakes for both ladies and gooey chocolate chip cookies for everyone else. For Zoro he makes a batch of bitter dark chocolate cookies with wasabi, just the thing to appease the man's not so sweet tooth.

As he cooks and bakes he practices his vocals. He runs through warm ups, scales and throat exercises. They all sound embarrassingly silly which is why he doesn't like to do them with an audience. He notices with some irritation that he's sticking to the mid and higher range of his vocal range and not really venturing lower where he's less comfortable. He knows that he's not got that deep sexy kind of voice that Zoro has, true his range is broader and he's got a more powerful and flexible voice than Zoro has, but the guitarist can just hit certain lower notes that sends all of Sanji's blood equally low.

Sanji picks a song that's deeper than he would usually go, something a little out of his confidence zone. If he wants to improve after all and he can't just rely on Zoro to do that for him. He picks an Ian Dury song "What a Waste". It's a great song, one from Zeff's era of music, the old man was always partial to gritty British ska and things like this were always playing in their home even before they got the bar. It reminds him so much of home and his old man, of course he knows the lyrics inside out.

" _I could be the driver in an articulated lorry_

_I could be a poet, I wouldn't need to worry_

_I could be the teacher in a classroom full of scholars_

_I could be the sergeant in a squadron full of wallahs_

_What a waste! What a waste!_

_What a waste! What a waste!_

_Because I tried to play the fool in a six-piece band_

_First-night nerves every one-night stand_

_I should be glad to be so inclined_

_What a waste! What a waste! But the world don't mind"_

He grins as he sings. The whole song is about the singer being told that he should give up music for something more sensible. Something he was often told at school. When he expressed an interest for cooking after he took it up to look after his old man his teachers suggested that he do that. But he didn't want to listen to them, he wanted to sing and work with his old man! To his credit Zeff always told him to chase his dreams, and in the case of joining this band, forced him to do so. Not everyone was so lucky.

" _I could be a lawyer with stratagems and ruses_

_I could be a doctor with poultices and bruises_

_I could be a writer with a growing reputation_

_I could be the ticket-man at Fulham Broadway station_

_What a waste! What a waste!_

_What a waste! What a waste!_

_Because I tried to play the fool in a six-piece band_

_First-night nerves every one-night stand_

_I should be glad to be so inclined_

_What a waste! What a waste! But the world don't mind"_

He continues singing, focusing on keeping his voice as deep as Dury's. He likes this song and wonders if his picking is a sign of homesickness. He was pretty argumentative with his old man the last few times that he's seen him, even though they usually are he could go back and be quiet and nicer. That'd be nice. His old man was only looking out for him despite all his intrusive questions about Zoro.

" _I could be the catalyst that sparks the revolution_

_I could be an inmate in a long-term institution_

_I could lead to wide extremes, I could do or die_

_I could yawn and be withdrawn and watch them nullify_

_What a waste! What a waste!_

_What a waste! What a waste!_

_Because I tried to play the fool in a six-piece band_

_First-night nerves every one-night stand_

_I should be glad to be so inclined_

_What a waste! What a waste! But the world don't mind"_

He hears a sound behind him and turns, midway through some orange frosting on Nami's cake and the last few choruses of the song to see that Zoro has come into the room. He appears calm and unharmed, at least on the surface, but he knows better than to believe that. Zoro could well have been at Baby's though.

"Don't let me stop you." Zoro says quietly, making his way over to Sanji.

"Don't worry about it, I was just practicing the deeper end of my range, I'm not so good there." He admits with a shrug and finishes the icing. He drops the bowl and spatula in the sink and turns to Zoro again. The guitarist has made his way to the cakes and treats and is looking at them curiously. Sanji comes a little closer and catches a strong scent of coffee radiating from Zoro's warm tan skin; he's been at work then, not with Baby. Sanji relaxes tension that he hadn't been aware that he was holding.

"So you do all this fancy stuff too, not just real food." Zoro notes, casting a surveying eye over Sanji's craftsmanship. Zoro is apparently responding to their previous argument by completely refusing to acknowledge it. Sanji can live with that.

"Don't be such an asshole, here, try these. I made them just for you." Sanji says, pushing Zoro's dark chocolate cookies towards him.

"I don't really like sweet things..." Zoro says, shaking his head.

"I know. Trust me." Sanji says, nodding to them.

Zoro seems to evaluate him for a moment or two before making a hesitant and wary move for one of the cookies, as if it might come alive and bite him with terrible fangs. Zoro bites into the completely innocent cookie and Sanji watches in silent joy as Zoro's face flashes from surprise to pleasure.

"Oh." Zoro says simply in surprise and perhaps a touch of wonder. He takes another bite and it's all Sanji can do to not explode into a victory lap around the kitchen.

"How was work then?" Sanji asks casually, starting to wash up and feeling a pleased hum inside him as Zoro joins him at his side.

"Really creepy is how work was." Zoro grumbles, drying a plate.

"Oh?" Sanji asks with curiosity.

"There was this crazy bastard at work all evening. He was just eyeballing me all evening with this really creepy look and I mean it, he was there from five minutes into my shift until the moment I left! I thought he was going to try to run me off of my bike on the way back!" Zoro exclaims, shaking his head in creeped out disbelief.

"Maybe you were just imagining it? Maybe he just looks like that or something, or he got stood up? I doubt some random guy is stalking you." Sanji says, trying to be reassuring.

"He came up to me near the end of my shift, jabbed his finger in my chest and growled  _'I'm watching you boy'_  into my face, then walked backwards out of the place glaring me down the whole way." The guitarist says flatly.

"Okay, so maybe he was stalking you. Any idea who this crazy guy was? Was he our age? Some kind of crazy fan or something? Maybe we should tell Nami and Luffy if you've got yourself a real stalker..." He trails off thoughtfully.

"Never seen that old bastard before in my life. And I'd recognise him. He was six foot, he had a fake leg and this crazy ass moustache that, I swear, was braided!" Zoro exclaims.

Oh shit. He should never have told Zeff where Zoro worked. Now the old geezer was trying to do his stern fatherly protection thing by going and mysteriously intimidating Zoro for no reason! Suddenly all his warm fuzzy feelings about his old man evaporate and Sanji is left instead just wanting to curl under a rock and die. He can hardly say 'Oh hey, I know that old geezer, funny story, he's my dad!' no way. He's lucky that Zoro is talking to him at all after their argument about the guitarist's abusive girlfriend, he doesn't really want to align himself with the crazy loon who's stalking and threatening Zoro.

"Sanji?" Zoro prompts, and Sanji realises that he's been quiet for a few moments too long.

"Uh, yeah. That's... pretty crazy. I'm ah... I'm gonna get the others, let them know about the cake and such." Sanji says, his voice too bright in an effort to conceal his deception. He vanishes in a quick trail of washing up bubbles and scampers off out of the room.

He decides to follow through with his lie and brings the others downstairs to see. There is much excitement about the food and he gets compliments from everyone. The band all moves into the living room and Zoro and Franky decide to set up for a movie marathon. Since Usopp isn't here they decide to make it a horror movie marathon, much to Robin's delight. The keyboard player is apparently too much of a scaredy-cat to abide horror movies usually, only Zoro is ever able to cajole him into it. However, with the long nosed musician still on honeymoon they can watch all the horror movies they like.

Sanji isn't that great a fan of horror movies, not that they scare him, he just prefers other kinds of movies. He likes action films, or even romance films. Okay, he will admit it, romance films are really his favourite. But with films like Brief Encounter, Casablanca and more modern things like Lost in Translation... he can't help it, he's a romantic. So seeing the main characters of these films gruesomely eviscerated is not really what he's looking for in a film. Robin and Zoro seem to have a tradition guessing how and in which order the characters will come to their untimely ends, Sanji can't help but be perturbed by how accurate Robin's guesses are. He excuses himself early and heads up to bed, stopping on the stairs outside his room to text his old man a message.

' _Stop stalking Zoro you psycho!'_ He sends him.

' _Is it a crime to be concerned about your son? This is the thanks I get.'_ he gets back.

 _'Knock it off, you're just doing this to mess with me!'_ He argues and turns off his phone before falling into bed.

He does of course have a new married couple to cook for first thing the next day. He's up early enough in the morning that he has the door open for Kaya and Usopp to come in. At this point he's already got hot caffeinated drinks ready in waiting for them and is part way through making them a French breakfast.

When the couple come through the door unlocking it in the early morning quiet, hefting suitcases and groaning, Sanji is ready and waiting.

"Breakfast?" He asks with a soft smile.

"Oh thank god, I told you that he would do this, it's great isn't it?" Usopp exclaims happily, rushing forward, grabbing a mug from Sanji's hand and dropping his suitcase in the process. He breathes out a pleased groan as his hands wrap around the market and all the tension seems to drain out of his body.

"We've been flying for so long, I smell like aeroplane and I want to eat, shower and sleep and never wake up again." Usopp groans tiredly.

"Is that for us?" Kaya asks, gesturing towards the fully made continental European breakfast.

"Of course it is, go right ahead." Sanji says gesturing to the spread on the table.

The two weary travellers start tucking into their meal happily and tiredly. Sanji joins them after a while, but he can't help but notice that the two of them are shooting each other conspiratorial glances whilst looking sidelong at him at regular intervals. From the reaction Nami had and the now seemingly very preplanned bouquet toss at him and Zoro, Sanji can guess precisely what the two were thinking about when they look at.

"No, Zoro and I aren't together. Yes, I asked. He said no. I don't want to talk about it or mention it again, don't say anything to him." Sanji rattles off in explanation and shoots both of them a look that brokers no argument.

Usopp looks like he's going to argue, or question. But his wife thankfully shoots her husband a look that suggest that he shut his mouth right now, instead she tends to look at Sanji sympathetically.

"I'm really sorry." She seems earnest too which sort of helps if it wasn't the fact that Sanji knows why Zoro has said no.

"Yeah, well…" He shrugs and looks away. He is kind of hoping that they will gossip, it hurts every time he has to tell someone. It's as if every time he has to admit that Zoro turned him down it becomes a little more real, a little more obvious that he's never going to be with Zoro. Part of him hopes that if Zoro gets away from Baby they might get together. But now he's not so sure, he doesn't know if Zoro will actually leave Baby. He wants him to so badly, but more importantly he wants Zoro to do it because he doesn't want to do it for him.

Zoro ought to leave Baby because she's mean and evil and hurts him, Sanji doesn't want to be the one to replace her  _as a replacement_  in some kind of shitty trading-your-abusive-girlfriend swap-off. He doesn't know how messed up Zoro is and if the other man is even capable of having a real relationship right now with someone who doesn't try to knock his teeth out. He knows that Zoro is attracted to him, he kissed him back after all. But does that even mean anything? Or is it just Zoro reacting to the first person to give him attention who isn't Baby? Sanji is so snarled up inside his own head that he doesn't realise that he's been quiet for some time. He comes to when Kaya puts her hand on his and uses it to give a reassuring squeeze. Sanji looks sharply at her and she smiles softly and sadly at him.

"I'm really sorry Sanji." She says quietly.

"Yeah, me too," Sanji shrugs sadly. She doesn't know the circumstances but at least he can get a little non-specific sympathy he supposes.

The duo shoot each other looks of questioning concern but Sanji ignores it.

Sanji catches the gentle sounds of arguing getting closer that tells him that Zoro and Robin are up. Despite Zoro being a lazy arse who sleeps more than he has any right to, he does tend to be an early riser along with Robin. In fairness Zoro is more inclined to go back to bed after eating breakfast but still, he tends to be up reasonably early.

"–not even like that's what happening here!" Zoro protests at the end of whatever argument they were having.

"Usopp!" Zoro exclaims excitedly and rushes over to his best friend. The keyboard player leaps up as well and flings his arms around his neck and grabs in what would otherwise seem an incredibly gay hug. Obviously Sanji doesn't have any problem with that kind of thing, you know, since she's trying to get into Zoro's pants himself after all. But a lifetime of being brought up in a culture that deems contact between men to be "gay" it's a little strange to see. Still, the beaming grins on both of their faces suck me make Sanji happy to see it and he wonders if having the keyboard player here might make Zoro more mentally stable what with Baby's presence in Zoro's life.

Sanji wrenches his attention from the embracing pair and looks up at Robin. The raven-haired woman is smiling at him in that disconcerting way that she does which makes Sanji think that she knows everything he's ever tried to keep hidden. A shudder runs down his spine and he wonders if the two of them were talking about his thing Zoro. Now Robin and Kaya are looking at each other sharing knowing glances and that is even worse. He wants to leap between them waving his arms and telling them to stop their secret-psychic-lady-communication but that would be entirely suspicious with a capital S.

Sanji makes a show of returning to prepare breakfast for the rest of his friends and as he does so the rest of them all start filtering in exchanging pleasant and pleased comments about how well the wedding went and how the honeymoon was.

"Sanji, sit down." Nami looks at him disapprovingly.

"Just one more dish, Nami!" Sanji chirps, trying to prepare even more food.

"No, sit down, I have an announcement to make now that everyone is back." She insists, gesturing to his chair.

Curiously Sanji makes his way to his chair and sits down ignoring Luffy's pouting at his not making more food. Nami looks around the band is the all in breakfast and clears her throat to make the mysterious announcement.

"Luffy and I decided what the band is going to do next. I know before that we've been focused on finding a new singer, but now that we found Sanji here and everything is going so well we need to keep moving forward. First of all we need to finish the album we're currently on, then we need to distribute it and see how well it does." Nami says seriously.

"How many are you thinking of printing? If it's going to be more than a certain amount we might need to do some kind of fund raising." Robin says cleverly.

"I think a Kickstarter might be what we need there. I want to print a lot because we're going to need them on our tour." Nami says with a cunning smile which simply begs the others to ask her for more information. Thankfully the others will oblige, mostly all at the same time.

"There is a competition and a tour running. It's a sort of battle of the bands knock out with each gig featuring two bands fighting it out for the next round, the next round being the next show in the tour. The competition takes you half way through the Grand Line, and if you win you get access to the rest of the Grand Line. It's not a free ride the entire way, but it's an open door to an opportunity that once we take we can take the whole way." Nami says seriously.

The kitchen is so still and silent that you could hear a pin drop. The Grand Line is only the most famous tour line ever, all of history's greatest bands have toured down it and doing so really proves that you are the best of the best. Going down it is part of Sanji's big dream. His biggest dream of all is to find the secret backstage room, All Blue, where only the very best singers get to go to show off their voice.

He doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to guess that the Grand Line is part of several other people's dreams as everyone else around the table is sitting bolt upright and staring. Zoro wants to be known as the best guitarist in the world, something that he can't very well do without having gotten to the end of the Grand Line.

"Wait, is this the Sabaody tour that you're talking about?" Sanji asks in surprise as the event starts to sound more and more familiar.

"Yeah... how...?" Nami asks back, looking slightly irritated at him for stealing her thunder somewhat. He flashes her a suitably apologetic smile and answers.

"My old man's bar, The Baratie, was one of the first venues for that last year. We're right by the beginning of the Grand Line after all, people warming up for that tour always come by the Baratie. I didn't know that they were repeating the competition this year though." He says thoughtfully.

"Maybe you should find out, a home field advantage could be just what we need." Robin purrs, clearly pleased.

"This is so exciting! This will be great for you, I just know it!" Kaya exclaims, hugging her new husband tight with delight.

"You signed us up right?" Luffy asks serious for a change.

"I just have one last form to return, I need everyone's signatures. And now that Usopp is back..." Nami answers and slides the paper across the table. She taps the page and Usopp signs where he needs to. The form is passed around the table with everyone signing. When it gets to Sanji he reads it quickly, it's the usual stuff about the competition rules and them owning the publicity material. He's not worried about it because as devious as Nami can be with her contracts he knows that she wouldn't put this one before them without dissecting every word and approving it.

"Who else is competing?" Zoro asks as Sanji signs.

"Bonney, Kid, Law... all of the Supernovas. It's going to be a fierce competition!" Nami grins.

"Supernovas?" Sanji asks, thrown by the term.

"Did you ever read North Blue Music?" Nami asks him. Sanji nods, he has, it's their region's local music magazine. Zeff used to read it to get some context for the bands that wanted to book and sometimes to offer gigs to bands. He'd read it from time to time if he was bored but never actively as it was pretty low budget and catered for such a wide variety of music that it was hard to find things he was interested in. On top of that he had work and... well, he just never got around to reading it often.

"Sometimes." He adds with a shrug.

"Well, they did a feature of the best artists in the region and Zoro and Luffy both made the list, as well as nine other artists. The eleven of them were dubbed the supernovas.

"I take it that Baby is going to be there too." Zoro says flatly, looking straight at Nami. Nami glares right back and says nothing, neither blinking nor moving.

"She's a supernova too?" Sanji asks, looking between the heated stare down in confusion.

"No, she's not." Luffy answers instead, seemingly ignoring the Mexican standoff going on right in front of him.

"And it pissed her off something awful that Luffy and Zoro made the list and she didn't." Franky snorts, a grin playing on his lips.

Zoro doesn't move and doesn't break his locked down stare with Nami but Sanji sees his hand twitch slightly tenser as Franky speaks. Sanji wonders just how angry that made Baby and just what price Zoro paid for it.

"Just sign the paper." Nami orders him stiffly.

"Just answer the question." Zoro retorts just as cold.

"She's entered too." Luffy answers and the staring contest springs apart. Nami looks at Luffy with anger and betrayal that their leader could overrule her ever and Zoro's gaze drops to the paper. Sanji watches as Zoro signs his name instantly, without hesitation or pause.

Nami all but leaps the table in her haste to claw the legally binding document back, she clutches it to her chest and stares at Zoro.

"If you were gonna sign regardless why did you ask?" Nami demands, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.

"I wanted to know, it was a simple question wasn't it? Maybe if you weren't trying to meddle so much it wouldn't have been so hard, would it?" Zoro shoots back.

Luffy laughs at their ongoing argument which quickly descends into bickering and accusations of being either a meddlesome harpy or being a hopeless and prickly bastard. Sanji tunes them out.

"Whatever!" Zoro eventually shouts, getting to his feet and slamming his hands down on the table top as he rises.

"I'm going." He announces. Sanji's ears perk up at that.

"Wait, you don't have work today. I know you don't. Where are you off to?" Nami challenges him, making Sanji cheer inside for her fantastic intelligence. Finally someone else is noticing Zoro's disappearances! He carefully keeps his face neutral and doesn't even look at Zoro.

"I'm just going out, is that okay or am I under house arrest now and not allowed to leave unless I'm working?" Zoro snorts and walks off out of the room, casually messing up Usopp's hair as he passes him.

Sanji frowns. Is Zoro going off to see Baby to explain his joining the competition to her? He can't imagine that she'd take that well, seeing has how she looked at Zoro when they were performing in public together for the first time. Then again, she doesn't like the fact that Zoro is performing with anyone but her at all. Sanji remembers all too well her angry insistence that he give up his place in their band and join her instead.

It's obviously an attempt to control him, to jealously guard his time, talent and person from others. Something that Sanji's internet research had taught him were classic signs of emotional abuse. And really, he does believe that Zoro can cope with the physical stuff. Not that it's okay that she gives him bruises and cuts, the fact that Zoro's still sporting a fading bruise on his ribs from where Baby kneed him is so far from okay that you can't even see it in the distance anymore. But his point is that the controlling behaviour and emotional manipulation seem worse.

Zoro isn't entirely a contrary character by nature but he really does only do something if he wants to, or if he likes you enough to do it as a gesture of friendliness towards you. And yet Baby has him leaping up from the table like this just to run off to her in order to defuse the situation of her finding out that he's competing and stop her from blowing up. That shows damage that doesn't just fade away like a bruise. He's far more scared of upsetting her and making her angry than he is about her hurting him, Sanji is sure about that.

But what can he do about it?

"I thought he might not sign. I find it interesting that he did." Robin says softly as the front door shuts behind Zoro.

"We're going to win." Luffy states flatly as if it's as an immutable fact as gravity.

"Hell yeah!" Franky cheers, punching the air and delivering an overly enthusiastic high five to Brook who then examines his hand like he thinks something might be broken.

"Can't wait to see her face when we win," Usopp laughs boisterously.

Sanji remembers her face when she showed up at their gig, how she intimidated Zoro, a man who Sanji would have thought before then simply could not be intimidated by anything at all. He remembers how Zoro begged her to calm down and not attack him, how he tried to admit whatever fault she wanted in order to keep her calm. Rage rolls and boils under his skin.

"I can't wait to see her face when I destroy her." He growls, sinking low in his chair with a scowl. The others all look at him in surprise for a second. Nami is the first to break out into a sinister and wicked grin.

"Yessss... come to the dark side and we can plot her horrible murder together..." Nami hisses in glee and strokes Sanji's arm like she's the evil villain and he's her fluffy white cat or something.

Sanji sinks a little lower into his chair and fumes quietly. He really hates her but he can't help but feel wrong about hating her or wishing bad things on her. She's a lady after all and his entire lifetime he's forever wanted to be nothing but gentlemanly and kind to ladies in both thought and deed but with her he just can't.

"That's cold man, you've not even met her!" Franky laughs, clearly not actually disapproving.

"I've met her several times and each time I see her is worse than the last." Sanji corrects Franky.

"Anyway. I'm out as well." He says, not wanting to elaborate further on his meetings with Baby because doing so will severely test his ability to not tell everyone what is going on. He doesn't know whether he should tell or not. He knows that he's probably supposed to, but he promised he wouldn't and in all honesty he doesn't think that doing so will help Zoro at all. He highly doubts that it'll stop Zoro from seeing Baby if he still wants to. All it will do is drive him further from the people who care about him and put them out of his reach if he ever did decide to turn to them for help getting out of his situation. No, keeping quiet isn't the nicest thing for him, but at least right now it's the best thing for Zoro.

He excuses himself from Nami who whines and says that he needs to help her plan Baby's untimely end but he's let off of the hook when Robin smiles her devious smile and offers to help. Sanji shudders at the thought of just what Robin might have in mind, especially as she was always so spot on with working out the gruesome deaths of the poor victims in the horror movies last night. No doubt if Robin had her way Baby would come to a very nasty and unnecessarily elaborate end.

Wandering to his bedroom to think is a considerably more effort driven affair than it ever was in his old man's house, ah the days when his bedroom was down the hall from the kitchen and pretty much everything else, rather than up five fucking flights of stairs or some shit like that.

He closes his eyes and stretches out on his bed. He needs to think.

He's a smart guy right? Right. So, he needs to think of just what he can do to pull Baby and Zoro apart. It's clearly not healthy what's going on and part of him is worried that she's going to do some serious physical harm to Zoro that can't be undone with just time and Zoro's extensive medical cabinet. And if she hasn't done some permanent damage to Zoro's psyche then surely that damage can't be far off.

So how does he do it then?

Zoro's not dumb enough to fall for him trying to split them up in any straightforward kind of way. He wonders what would happen if Baby cheated on Zoro, would he leave her then? He jolts when he remembers that it wasn't too long ago that photos of Baby making out with some guy in a club when she was on tour were circulating around the internet. Of course Zoro was still secretly with her then.

Sanji rolls onto his front and tries to shove down the sympathy pang in his heart. Poor Zoro, and he's still with her.

Right. So, no way is convincing her to cheat on him going to split them up. And Zoro isn't in denial about the physical stuff but he is about the emotional stuff. Maybe if he could get Zoro to be really honest about that with himself then he'd consider leaving her. Or at least see her a little more for what she is.

It's not like Zoro is ever going to be honest about how Baby makes him  _feel_  or anything is he? Zoro has all the emotional intelligence of one of Sanji's sponge cakes. If Sanji is just going to wait around for Zoro to just get this on his own then he's fucked. Or rather, he's not, because Zoro isn't ever going to leave Baby at this rate which means not only is his life going to suck but Sanji is never going to get into Zoro's pants. And okay, yeah, he has conflicted motives there, but still!

Sanji doesn't know how one man can be so frustrating. He decides to take his frustration away with music and slides his comfortable blue headphones on as he sits up on his bed and flicks through the songs on his phone. He comes out of the song he'd been last listening to, one of their own as he had been practicing. He looks through their discography and chews his lips. It wasn't fair to say that Zoro was emotionally dumb, he could pull out real emotion and dissect it rather beautifully as it happens, just he only seems to really be able to do that when he's writing music. He flicks through their songs and quickly identifies the ones about Baby, they're reasonably honest, all along the theme of "hey I love/loved you and you ripped my heart out!"

All of that was great but still Zoro seemed to believe that he had to be with her. Sanji doesn't know if Zoro's assertion that Baby would kill herself without him was true or not. A rather ruthless part of Sanji doesn't give a shit, except he does really because it would be a shame and more importantly Zoro would feel guilty about it for the rest of time.

Still, he flicks through their songs and notes that they're all from Zoro's perspective. And Zoro already knows how he feels about Baby, in love and miserable, he hates her but he doesn't feel he can leave. None of that shit it helpful to Sanji's "get Zoro away from her" plan. If only Zoro had the sense to see that Baby is just playing with him, that she's just swinging from nice to nasty just to keep Zoro right where she wants him – under her control. Zoro has weakly asserted that she's not all bad, that sometimes she's sweet, that it's not all split lips and bruised ribs. You know, like that makes it okay or something. Fuck, it's just all so calculated and Baby is smart enough to play Zoro like an instrument.

But again, Zoro doesn't have the self-awareness, or doesn't want to have the self-awareness, to see that. If only he could convince Zoro to honestly try to get into her head, then maybe he'd see that. But this brings him back to Zoro's emotional idiocy. If only he could get Zoro to write a song about her but... well, maybe about how she feels about him. Just so that he can see how deliberately she manipulates him. Somehow though he doesn't think the he can just order Zoro to do that. Ugh. Whatever.

He flops back on his bed defeated and stares up at his phone's screen. He's sure an answer will come to him if he just thinks about the problem in the back of his mind for long enough. He just needs to stop worrying at the problem consciously and let his mind run over it on its own. In the meantime he can do something more productive with his time and work out just exactly who the supernovas are and how they're a threat in this competition. He's going to need to be at his very best in order to use all of his vocal power to do his bit to ensure that they win. He grins at the thought of destroying Baby publicly.

With that thought in mind he pulls up her music on spotify, it's easy to find since she's with such a big label, he settles down to listen to it with a Cheshire cat grin. He wants to be able to beat her at anything, even her own music. As the music washes over him he finds it easy enough to work out which music was written by Zoro and which was written by Baby herself. When it's vocal he can tell, Zoro's particular turn of phrase with lyrics acts like a fingerprint almost, it's not something he can put his finger on or a particular word that he uses a lot. There's just a... Zoro-ish quality to it.

There are a few songs of hers where the lyrics don't feel like Zoro but the guitar is entirely Zoro's style, that confident exuberant style, that one is harder to pick up as the guitarist that Baby has is nowhere near as good as Zoro is, it just sounds like his guitar played poorly. He's pleased to note that Zoro's fingerprint disappears entirely from her music the moment that she publicly "broke up" with him.

He doesn't know why but the thought that Zoro could be writing with her in secret is almost more disturbing than the idea of him sneaking out to see her in secret. Sanji lets a grin come over his face. He knows that it's kind of sick to get this sort of glee out of this, but that Zoro finds it so easy to write with him speaks volumes. He wonders if Zoro refuses to write with her any more or if he just can't. Looking at the discography of the band when Baby was in his place he can see that whilst Zoro was a prolific songwriter in the band's early years the denseness and tone of the music drops off more and more dramatically as time goes on. The further into their relationship Zoro seemed to get, the harder it seems to have been to access that part of himself. His music is more pained too, hints of darkness under fast paced music and lyrics that are a little graphically horrifying when looked at too long.

He switches to just Zoro's songs, the older versions sung by him, rather than the edited versions that Nami has been making them record lately, with him singing instead of Zoro. The sound of Zoro's voice unknots his tense muscles and lulls him into an almost trance like state. He's scared out of his wits when his phone suddenly rings, blaring into his ears through his headphones. He yelps and smacks his phone, apparently hitting the button to connect the call.

"Uh... Sanji?" Zoro's voice breathes in his ears, making Sanji scrabble for the phone on the floor where it fell after he slapped it.

"Yeah, I'm here! What- what's up?" He babbles, trying to recover his smoothness and probably totally failing.

"Uh..." Zoro mumbles uncertainly, sending a cold shudder up Sanji's spine.

"I need a ride. But can you promise me something first?" Zoro asks softly.

"Oh Zoro..." Sanji whimpers, already able to tell what Zoro wants. "I won't... I won't tell anyone. Just tell me where you are and I'll come get you."

"I need you to promise me something else too." Zoro says, stopping Sanji in his tracks.

"What?" he questions.

"Promise me you won't freak out and take me to the hospital or something." Zoro demands.

"Uh... well, did you hit your head, lost a lot of blood or broken something?" Sanji frowns.

"...No. I'll be fine I just need to get home is all. Promise me?" the other man pleads.

"That's asking a lot without me knowing exactly what's wrong." he points out, wondering just what kind of injury this is. I think if I'm promising you this then I need something in return." Sanji says, a bright idea suddenly hitting him.

"What?" Zoro growls out flatly.

"Write me a song, about anything I choose. And you've got to be honest with it, no jerking me around and trying to worm out of the thing that I mean whilst still vaguely fitting the request I gave you. Write me a real song. Write about Baby." he states, leaping upon his opportunity to get Zoro to really think about how this works!

"I've written about a million songs about her-" Zoro starts with a laugh, but Sanji interrupts.

"I don't mean about her, I mean write a song  _as_  her. Write about how you think she thinks, and how you think she thinks about you." he clarifies firmly.

"That's kind of an odd request." the other mans says uncertainly, as if he's not sure that Sanji isn't trying to trick him into something bigger.

"That's my demand, take it or leave it." Sanji says, wanting to stand firm on this.

"Sure, whatever. I promise if you do." Zoro laughs, sounding a little tired.

"I... I can promise not to tell anyone or take you to the hospital but I can't promise that I won't freak out, not without knowing what's wrong. It's not really something I have a lot of control over, but I'll try." Sanji offers honestly, his mind is already running over a whole list of things that could be wrong with Zoro and not liking any of them.

"Fair enough, deal." the guitarist says softly in his ear.

"Hold up a second." He says and unplugs his headphones from the phone and pulls them off. He presses the phone back to his ear and holds it there with his shoulder whilst he shucks his shoes on.

"Tell me what happened." He says, leaving his room and heading down the stairs quickly.

"I don't... I knew she was going to be mad when she found out about the competition. I'm not dumb." Zoro says in a resigned kind of way.

"Uh-huh." Sanji says as he passes Usopp on the stairs and waves at him as he goes past. He chews his lip. What would Usopp say if he knew where Sanji was going and why? How does Zoro think that Usopp would react?

"I wanted to get her in a good mood before she found out, you know so that when she did find out she'd drop from a higher point and maybe not get so bad." Zoro explains softly. Sanji chews his lip as he climbs into his car, he doesn't like just how much thought Zoro devotes to this sort of thing. He's far too used to walking on eggshells.

"Right, I'm in the car, you're on speaker but it's just me here. Where am I headed?" He asks, turning the engine on.

"Drive to Baby's place, I'll tell you more as you go." the other man answers. Sanji frowns but pulls out and does as he's told.

"How'd you try to get in her good books then?" He asks absently, looking over his shoulder as he reverses.

Zoro laughs then, an amused and slightly mocking sound, as if Sanji's just asked something stupid.

"How do you think, dumbass?" Zoro says down the line, his tone seedy enough for Sanji to get just what he's implying. The thought derails Sanji enough that he nearly collides with Robin's gorgeous sports car. Sanji's jaw drops. He supposes that he shouldn't be surprised. Baby is Zoro's girlfriend after all, but somehow with the fact that she turns him black and blue on a regular basis he'd sort of thought that it maybe didn't happen. A terrible thought makes Sanji feel sick and he has the steering wheel in a white knuckle grip as he works his tongue in his mouth and tries to speak.

"Zoro- with Baby... please tell me that it was... consensual?" He grits out.

"Sanji! For fuck's sake, she's my girlfriend!" Zoro exclaims down the phone to him.

"That doesn't mean anything, just because she's-" he protests.

"For the love of god, curly-brow! Yes, my girlfriend and I fucked, it was my idea, you want I should send you pictures next time so you can see?!" the other man snaps.

Sanji's jaw clicks shut and he's glad that Zoro can't see his face right now. Zoro knows how he feels about him, he knows damn well that Sanji... that his feelings aren't platonic. He'd only been asking out of concern, Baby hurts Zoro too much as is and he wasn't going to put the idea of her hurting him a different way entirely out of the question. He's glad that Zoro isn't being hurt like that but he doesn't need the fact that Zoro's sleeping with someone else shoved in his face quite like that.

"Fuck, Sanji... I..." Zoro's voice comes over the phone, sounding... regretful maybe?

"Forget it." Sanji says tightly and keeps driving.

"Where are you? I can see Baby's from here." Sanji says, spotting her house further down the road.

"I'm... not too sure where it is from there, I got lost. But I'm round the back of the Burger King that's nearest hers." Zoro tells him.

"Ugh. Tell me you're not eating that crap for lunch." He winces in disgust, turning his car around the corner to where he's vaguely sure that the "restaurant" is in. If you could call it that.

"Not when I could have your food at home." Zoro laughs quietly.

"Quit flirting with me, asshole." Sanji shoots back, his face reddening and making him glad that he's alone in his car right now. He has to drive a fair bit but before too long he spots the tall Burger King sign in the distance and heads towards it.

"I'm nearly there now." Sanji says, filling the silence that's fallen between them, only broken by Zoro commenting on the cars that go by and Sanji bitching about Zoro getting lost.

"Is that your car I hear pulling up?" Zoro asks him as Sanji puts on his handbrake and get out, slamming the door behind him.

"Hope so, or I'm at the wrong goddamn fast food joint." He grumbles, unhappy at being in the mere presence of such an abomination.

"No, I can hear you." Zoro says, hanging up.

"SANJI!" Zoro's voice comes from nearby, not over the phone this time. Sanji puts his phone back in his pocket and follows the sound of the guitarist's voice.

He rounds a sticky and unpleasant dumpster to find his way into the employee car parking area, there he spots the familiar figure of Zoro hunched up on the kerb, his back to a fence. His hand is clutching at his hair and Sanji grits his teeth.

"I thought you said you didn't get hit in the head." He accuses faintly, coming closer.

"I didn't get  _hit_..." Zoro reasons.

Sanji comes closer and crouches down. On the floor between Zoro's feet is a small puddle of blood, an amount that Sanji doesn't like but not enough to warrant a worrying amount of blood loss that would make him take Zoro to the hospital regardless of his promise.

"Oi, look at me, idiot." Sanji orders him softly, reaching out and disentangling Zoro's hand from his hair. He feels Zoro's fingers twine with his and Sanji notes that there's no blood in Zoro's hair.

"So, aside from avoiding telling your girlfriend about something that will send her off the deep end, it's a good idea to be away from things she can throw at you. Learnt my lesson there. Next time I'll maybe try to break that kind of news when she's not near a whole block of knives." Zoro mumbles softly and tilts his head to look up at Sanji.

Sanji's breath catches in his throat. The entire left side of Zoro's face is covered in blood and as he looks at him there's a gash running from above Zoro's left eyebrow to halfway down his left cheek, going over his eye too! There's just... so much blood! Zoro's eye is shut and Sanji is terrified because he doesn't know if Zoro's eye is even okay under that! What if it's not and he's blind in one side now?! With shaking hands he reaches out and touches either side of Zoro's jaw, just holding his head in his hands and feeling a wave of fierce protection roll over him.

"Sanji, this counts as freaking out. Breathe." Zoro reminds him, reaching out and shaking Sanji's shoulder as if he was the one in need of medical attention instead of Zoro!

"If you can't see through that eye I'm taking you to the hospital right now, I don't care what I promised." Sanji grits out, his hands shaking against Zoro's skin. Zoro smirks and tilts his head at Zoro curiously, as if Sanji is some sweet endearing creature that Zoro's not encountered before.

"I can open it and see, I already checked. It just hurts like a bitch to do it. So will you take me home or what?" Zoro asks with a huff, as if Sanji is being over dramatic and Zoro hasn't had half of his face slashed open.

Sanji sighs and pulls Zoro to his feet, leading him towards the car and even opening the passenger side door for him, despite Zoro's protests that he's perfectly capable of doing that himself. He drives them home.

"Does this happen a lot? With knives and things I mean?" Sanji questions, not taking his eyes off of the road.

"It's the first time she's done this sober. That's why I didn't even think about the knives being right there." Zoro shrugs and wipes a drip of blood off of his chin with his shirt sleeve.

Sanji's mouth silently works around how on earth to ask what Zoro means by that. Does that imply that she's done something like this before but she was drunk? What...

"Trust me, don't ask." Zoro cuts in. Sanji shakes his head but he's pretty sure that he's not going to be able to shake that question from his mind so easily. He knows that it'll haunt him.

"So are you still going to do the competition then?" Sanji asks as they pull up to a stop at the light.

"I signed, didn't I? I'm still going to compete, I've just got to hope that she gets knocked out of the competition before we have to battle her." Zoro answers with a grimace. Sanji doesn't say that he hopes that they knock her out of the competition personally. He wants nothing more than to be at Zoro's side, staring Baby down and kicking her ass. Just to show her how good Zoro really is and how much she doesn't deserve him. He loathes her more with each passing day.

"What are you going to tell the others? They're going to notice that, there's no make-up magic you can do to cover that up." Sanji says, changing the subject and pointing to Zoro's cut face.

"That's my problem, not yours. I'll think of something." Zoro says firmly and Sanji takes his cue to drop the subject.

From that point on they drive back to the house in silence. When they pull in Sanji goes in first, checking to see that the coast is clear before he and Zoro sprint up to their floor and manage to make it into their shared bathroom without running into anyone else.

Sanji locks both doors to stop anyone else coming in. Zoro heads towards the sink and gingerly pulls his shirt off, trying not to catch his face as he does so. As the black shirt rises up his tan back Sanji sees rows and rows of scratches on there. Nothing serious, and nothing that will be there tomorrow morning either, Sanji doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to work out just who put those scratches on Zoro's naked back and what Zoro had been doing to inspire such an action. Zoro hisses and tilts his head as the shirt comes free just catching the top of the cut on his face. He holds it before himself examining it.

"I think this one is dark enough to be saved. The blood should come out, don't you think?" Zoro asks turning to Sanji and holding it out. Sanji glances at the shirt and nods mutely. There's a hickey blooming on Zoro's collar bone and a smear of lipstick on his shoulder.

Sanji screws his eyes shut and tries to focus. Zoro is hurt and he needs him, the last thing that he should be feeling right now is jealousy.

"Sit your ass down and let me help, marimo," he orders, herding Zoro to sit on the edge of the bath. Zoro shrugs and does as he's told, looking up at Sanji with his one open and undamaged eye.

"So what's with the promise that you made me make? Why do you want me to write a song so bad?" Zoro questions him.

"Does it matter? You promised." Sanji reminds him and dampens a sheet of gauze with anti-septic and runs it over the cut on Zoro's face. Zoro sucks a breath in sharply between clenched teeth, but with the blood out of the way he can see that it's not too deep a cut. It'll still probably scar but it could have been far worse.

"Okay, give me that, let me do my eye myself, or I'm going to jump and you're going to actually blind me." the guitarist snorts and takes the blood and antiseptic soaked bandage off of Sanji. With a wince he runs it over his own eyelid.

Sanji watches unhappily and turns to the cupboard to see if he can find some of those adhesive butterfly stitches that Zoro used before. He's not really sure how Zoro organises this thing so it takes some rummaging through to find it. He hears a sharp intake of breath and glances back to see Zoro looking down at his phone.

"I need to pick this up. Please... just keep quiet okay? Please?" Zoro pleads with Sanji. Sanji frowns and nods, not understanding quite what Zoro's asking. The green haired man sighs and picks up the call, seemingly on impulse he presses the speaker button, looking up at Sanji as he does so.

"Zoro? Are you there?" Baby's voice comes through the handset, echoing in the bathroom. Sanji clamps his jaw shut and gives the phone a look that would set in on fire if he could.

"Yeah, I'm here." Zoro answers instead, giving Sanji a pointed 'shut up' look. Sanji pulls a face and gets out the q-tips and soaks one in antiseptic. He kneels down on the bathroom mat between Zoro's knees and leans up to gently clean the parts of Zoro's cut that they hadn't reached before. Now that most of the blood is gone it's a little easier to get at the cut.

"I'm so... so sorry about what happened earlier. I didn't mean to- I don't even really remember what happened. I just lost it, it'll never happen again love, I've never done anything like that before, it's so unlike me." Baby says, sounding so earnest and sweet with a hint of fear in her voice. Sanji feels Zoro's legs tense at his sides and Sanji threads his free hand into Zoro's hair, stroking in small circles to calm him down.

"I never meant to do it. You just made me so angry. You know how important succeeding is and if you compete as well it's like you're trying to stop me from achieving my dream! It's so selfish and it makes me so angry! So I'm sorry that I hurt you but I really couldn't control myself." She adds. Sanji watches Zoro's shoulders pull closer in, as if he's trying to make himself smaller. He doesn't think that Zoro's even aware that he's doing it, but it just looks so un-Zoro like.

Zoro chews his lip and looks down at Sanji, saying nothing.

"Are you ignoring me?" She demands suddenly, her voice sharp. Zoro's muscles jolt at her tone.

"No, of course not. I'm just... trying to stop this from bleeding is all. I'm just distracted." Zoro answers quickly.

"Is it bad? I didn't cut you too badly did I?" Baby asks, into the silence.

"It's shallow, I can still see but it's going to scar, I'm pretty sure." Zoro replies as Sanji tosses the cotton bud aside and picks up the stitches.

"Well, I suppose it's good that you're not looking to leave me huh? You'd never get another girlfriend with a scar that big on your face!" Baby laughs down the phone. Sanji grits his teeth and feels his face pull into a silent snarl, he locks eyes with Zoro and shakes his head vehemently. Zoro looks down at him silently for a second, his face conflicted.

"I don't want another girlfriend." Zoro says softly, his eyes never leaving Sanji's.

"Good!" Baby says loudly.

Sanji can't understand this woman, who calls to apologise and insults someone like this?! But... he supposes that he knows. Baby's calling up and making Zoro feel sorry for her and then making sure that he knows that he can't leave because he has no one else to go to. He growls quietly and affixes the first stitch, making Zoro gasp.

"Ow." Zoro says softly, batting Sanji away and standing up by the mirror to do it himself.

"What are you doing?" Baby questions him, sounding curious.

"Just putting stitches on, it'll heal faster." Zoro answers obediently.

"Huh. Okay." Baby says indifferently down the phone.

"You're not mad at me are you? You sound mad." She asks, her voice going small and timid. Sanji scowls at the phone before shutting his eyes and resting his forehead on the back of Zoro's neck and letting his hands fall to the other man's hips. He doesn't believe Baby's tone at all, she's not scared, she's just manipulating Zoro.

"I'm not mad, Baby." Zoro answers softly and Sanji's hands tense.

"You're not going to leave me are you? I don't think I could cope if you..." she trails off with a stifled sob. Sanji grits his teeth to resist the temptation to lean over Zoro's shoulder and shout at the phone that he fucking well should leave her!

"Of course not." Zoro answers instead and Sanji heaves a sigh, it was never going to be that easy.

"You're still mad, I can hear you. You're angry with me!" Baby wails down the phone. Zoro looks over his shoulder and shoots Sanji a warning look.

"I'm not mad Baby, honest. You know I can't stay angry at you. We're fine, really." Zoro insists. He tries to place another stitch but fails, he's too tense. Sanji shakes his head and gently turns Zoro around. He throws the useless stitch away and peels a new one from the sterile adhesive wrapper. He sticks it to one side of Zoro's cut, just under his eye and then, pulling the wound closed as much as possible, sticks the other side down.

"Good. Talk to that red-headed bitch, pull out of the competition, I mean it." Baby orders and hangs up the phone. Zoro heaves a sigh and Sanji feels him start to relax. Sanji grits his teeth and stays silent, his focus on putting Zoro back together.

"I know what you're thinking, don't say it." Zoro mutters irritably.

"This is me not saying anything. Check out how quiet I am." Sanji shoots back and sticks the last stitch down. Zoro takes over and finds a big enough gauze patch and tape and presses it to the now sealed cut to keep it clean.

Zoro looks like he wants to say something, to somehow justify what Baby said but perhaps he's aware that there is no justification for the things that she said.

"Are you going to drop out?" Sanji asks eventually, picking Zoro's shirt up off of the floor and throwing it into the laundry hamper that the two of them share.

"No." Zoro answers firmly, sounding far more confident than he did on the phone. Sanji looks over at him and sees that Zoro is standing properly again, at his full height and not hunched in on himself to look smaller.

"Good. I really want you to play, it's going to be awesome." he smiles at Zoro, earning a smile in return.

"She's going to be really angry when she finds out." Zoro adds, glancing anxiously at his phone, as if he's concerned that somehow it could still be recording.

"Are you asking my advice? Because you know what I think you should do." he points out. Zoro should ditch her psycho ass as soon as humanly possible.

"I'm not." Zoro answers flatly.

"Well then. Remember you owe me a song for this, about you but as Baby. Don't forget." Sanji reminds him with a grin and lets himself out of the bathroom.

Sanji leans against the shut door from inside his room and resolves to go and make lunch to take his mind off of the whole situation. He hopes that Zoro will think seriously about their deal and try to get into Baby's head. Maybe then, especially with the conversation they just had, he'll realise how manipulative she is.

As he descends the stairs he can't help but wonder why Zoro put the call on speakerphone at all. He understands that Zoro had to answer it then, Baby was already angry enough without Zoro "ignoring her calls" or some shit like that. But Zoro could have just answered without letting Sanji hear any of it. So why did he?

He can only conclude that Zoro wanted him to hear it. Maybe he was hoping to reassure Sanji that their relationship was okay (which is so many different levels of not going to happen) or perhaps... perhaps Zoro just wanted someone else to hear it, maybe to convince himself that he wasn't the only one thinking that Baby was being mean. He can see how easily Baby twists anything that Zoro says or doesn't say, maybe Zoro just wanted someone else there, so he could make sure that he wasn't being crazy.

Whatever, he was just speculating. But perhaps... perhaps he helped somehow? Who knows.

Zoro doesn't come down for lunch and when dinner rolls around he's absent as well. Sanji brings him soup and finds him sat in the middle of his bed surrounded by sheets of paper. Some discarded, some simply removed and laid out, a few are scrunched up into frustrated little balls and strewn about the floor. Zoro is songwriting!

The guitarist doesn't even seem to notice Sanji's entrance and Sanji has to walk all the way up to him and rap his knuckles on his head to get his attention. Zoro jumps and when he sees that it's Sanji he snaps his notepad to his chest.

"It's not done, cook!" Zoro snaps, scowling at Sanji like he's some kind of sneaky spy.

"I'm not here to peek on your work, idiot. I'm here to make sure you don't starve, so you're gonna drop that book and eat this and I'm going to sit here and make sure you do." Sanji announces, handing Zoro the bowl of soup and fresh bread rolls that he'd specifically buttered for Zoro before he came up.

Zoro fumbles with them and Sanji rolls his eyes and takes the plate and bread back, leaving Zoro to just balance with the soup. Sanji sweeps some space for himself on Zoro's bed and sprawls down on the mattress.

"Please. Make yourself comfortable." Zoro says flatly, taking the plate off of Sanji and resting it on his chest.

"Here you can be my table if you're going to take up space, at least you can be useful." Zoro adds.

"I live to serve." Sanji says with an overly elaborate flourish with his arms that nearly dislodges the bread on his chest.

"I don't need to be supervised you know. I think I can manage soup." Zoro murmurs distractedly, his spoon halfway to his mouth as he scans through one of his pages.

"And this is why I'm supervising you. More eating, less reading. If I go you'll just get distracted and not eat." he points out stubbornly.

"So?" Zoro challenges, equally stubbornly.

Sanji glares at him and Zoro matches the expression. Without disturbing the plate on his chest Sanji picks up his leg and kicks Zoro's papers off of the bed.

"Oops. I get restless legs when people aren't eating their meals." he says insincerely.

"OI!" the guitarist yelps.

"Oh no, it's happening again!" Sanji exclaims, preparing to throw more paper off of the bed. Zoro growls and starts eating his soup properly and so Sanji relaxes.

He and Zoro fall into one of their comfortable silences. It's easier for him to not say something that'll piss Zoro off if he's silent and easier for Zoro not to deliberately drive him mad if he does the same. It works. Unfortunately there's only so long that either of them can maintain that, and this time Sanji cracks first.

"So, are you writing that song that I asked for? How's it going? I'm seeing a lot of paper around." he comments, resisting the temptation to pick up any of the bits of paper around him and look at them to get a sneak peek.

"It's really fucking hard. But... I'm getting some good stuff I guess. I think I've got two songs going on here, one started coming out kind of well but it was from me and you wanted from her. It's starting to get there though, it's not exactly a feel good exercise though." Zoro grumbles above him.

Sanji doesn't say anything. The fact that it makes Zoro feel shitty to think about his relationship with Baby was very much the point, and whilst he doesn't like Zoro feeling bad at all he'd rather that he feel bad now, realise that his relationship is fucking awful and leave her instead of being miserable with her forever. It was a lesser of two evils situation.

"Where did you learn to cook anyway? This isn't that bad actually." Zoro asks after a while.

"Hey, hold back that praise there moss-brain, I'll get a case of the vapours and faint if you compliment me like that." Sanji says in a voice as breathy and fluttering as he can manage without bursting out laughing.

"Shut your yap! I'm trying to say something nice here! It's good soup is all!" Zoro fumes, jabbing Sanji in the side with a spoon.

"Oh! Roronoa! I feel a swoon coming on, thank goodness I'm already on your bed!" he gasps, pressing his palm to his forehead like some 18th century maiden.

Sanji devolves into fits of giggles right about the time that Zoro sees fit to put his half finished soup safely out of reach and introduce Sanji's spleen to the end of Zoro's foot. Sanji being the adult that he is absolutely does not retaliate and any insinuations that they bickered and jabbed at each other until Nami yelled at them to stop from her room below are pure lies. Terrible terrible lies.

"I think I'd better go clean up after dinner and go to bed. Nami said at dinner that she's got this big game plan that we've got to be up bright and early for. Which you would know if you'd been at dinner." Sanji points out from where he is sprawled on the floor.

"I'm choosing to ignore you, now move your skinny ass, you're sprawled across my guitar tabs for this song of yours." Zoro orders him, flapping his hands at Sanji to get him to move.

"I'm not skinny!" Sanji squawks indignantly. Zoro says it like he's some stick thin fourteen year old boy! He looks after his body very well thank you very much!

"You are, Baby wears bigger jeans than you. You could get photographed in your underwear for one of those stupid designer underwear boxes. Now move it skinny!" Zoro orders, shoving him over and picking up the papers that were under him. Sanji's eyebrows climb up into his hairline. That's considerably more of a verbal slip than he's used to Zoro making, maybe there is something to his theory that songwriting makes Zoro more open.

"Wow Zoro, spend a lot of time thinking about me in just my underwear, huh?" He smirks up at the other man.

Zoro's mouth shuts so fast that Sanji is fairly sure that he heard his teeth click. Sanji decides to push his luck. He kneels up and pulls his shirt up and shimmies his jeans down a little.

"Actually, this  _is_  designer underwear. Calvin Klein, see?" Sanji says around the shirt that he's holding in his teeth. He might possibly be making a little effort to flex his abs as he leans back to show off the waistband of his underwear.

Zoro is now an interesting shade of red and the non-bandaged eye that Sanji can see is running over Sanji's low hemline.

"Oh well, I'd better get to these dishes I guess. Wouldn't want to disturb your writing, marimo." Sanji chirps, dropping his shirt and innocently sauntering out of Zoro's room with perhaps a little more shimmy to his hips than was strictly necessary.

He doesn't look back of course, that would ruin the perfect exit, and he doesn't check in on Zoro for the rest of the night either. But when he goes to bed he can still hear the occasional soft guitar note floating into his room from across the hall and the sounds of quiet writing and notes pull Sanji instantly into sleep.

When he awakes Zoro isn't in his room but there is still paper strewn across the place. Sanji has a feeling that he knows where Zoro might be and heads down to the music room. It seems that he's not been the only one to have that idea as most of the others are there. The last note of something hangs in the air as Sanji enters and he hears Zoro frustratedly growl on the other side of the glass as he makes a gesture to Chopper who is sitting in his control chair in pink pyjamas with little reindeers on.

"I'll play it through your headphones again Zoro!" Chopper says into his microphone and types frantically.

"What...?" Sanji asks, looking at the others.

"He's already recorded the guitar, so he's having that play in his headphones whilst he sings. It plays in here too so that we can check if it's all synching up." Franky explains quietly.

"At least he's not playing his guitar with his teeth anymore. Apparently he did that last night and his e-string snapped and caught him right across the face! Idiot." Nami tuts, shaking her head.

"Only Zoro." Franky laughs.

Sanji bites his tongue and says nothing.

"This song is so creepy though, I don't know if it should go on the album. It's just really..." Nami trails off as Chopper waves his hand at them to be quiet.

"In three, Zoro." Chopper says over the mic and hovers his hand over the button on his keyboard.

Chopper counts down and his finger hovers over the button, Zoro's head nods in count with each digit that Chopper counts down. Zoro is sat on one of Sanji's barstools and when he leans in to sing his voice shoots straight up Sanji's spine like an electric current. His voice is deep and close and as it plays through the control room Sanji swears he can hear it inside his head.

" _I'm a killer,_

_cold and wrathful_

_silent sleeper,_

_I've been inside your bedroom_

_I've murdered half the town_

_left you love notes on their headstones_

_I'll fill the graveyards until I have you."_

"Creepy." Nami whispers lowly, her voice soft underneath Zoro's pre-recorded guitar playing around them.

Sanji swallows thickly. Zoro's voice is dark and threatening, sinister and calm and he is most definitely inside Baby's head and he's not sure that he wants to be in there himself.

" _Moonlight walking,_

_I smell your softness_

_carnivorous and lusting to track you down among the pines._

_I want you stuffed into my mouth_

_hold you down and tear you open,_

_live inside you,_

_love, I'd never hurt you."_

Sanji watches Zoro's hands tighten on the edge of the stool as he says that. The line perhaps far more honest than any that's gone before.

" _But I'll grind against your bones until our marrows mix_

_I will eat you slowly..."_

Zoro tilts his head back and almost sighs out the next line.

" _Oh, the horror of our love_

_never so much blood pulled through my veins._

_Oh, the horror of our love... never so much blood"_

The guitar picks up and Sanji shivers, the others are creeped out by the song but they don't know just how real it is. But as Zoro continues Sanji gets the feeling that Zoro's perspective is slipping back from Baby to himself and somehow it hurts more.

" _I wake in terror,_

_blackbirds screaming_

_dark cathedrals spilling midnight on their altars_

_I'm your servant, my immortal_

_pale and perfect, such unholy heaving -_

_the statues close their eyes, the room is changing_

_break my skin and drain me."_

Zoro shakes his head and like that he seems to be back to singing as Baby.

" _Ancient language, speak through fingers_

_the awful edges where you end and I begin_

_inside your mouth I cannot see -_

_there's catastrophe in everything I'm touching_

_as I sweat I crush you._

_And I hold your beating chambers until they beat no more_

_you die like angels sing..."_

" _Oh, the horror of our love_

_never so much blood pulled through my veins._

_Oh, the horror of our love... never so much blood"_

The guitar picks up again and it's Zoro's white acoustic, playing sinister versions of notes that Sanji had heard in his sleep whilst Zoro worked the song out of his mind. Zoro sighs and seems to reign himself in a little. When he sings again his voice is a little calmer but no less dark.

" _You're a ghost, love, nightgown flowing_

_your body blue and walking along the continental shelf_

_you are a dream among the sharks_

_beautiful and terrifying, lit and restless_

_we dance in dark suspension._

_And you bury me in the ocean floor beneath you_

_where they'll never hear us scream."_

" _Oh, the horror of our love_

_never so much blood pulled through my veins._

_Oh, the horror of our love... never so much blood"_

The last notes end and Chopper ends the recording and nods to himself. Zoro heaves a sigh that Sanji can't hear, separated as they are by glass and with the microphone off the wall is soundproof. Zoro looks worn out and torn apart inside. Sanji feels wretched for doing this to Zoro but as Zoro looks up at him, with both eyes now as he's removed the gauze and has just left the stitches holding the cut above and below his eye shut, Zoro's expression seems resigned and steely. Sanji's breath catches in his throat and he wonders just what writing this has shown Zoro. But as soon as the eye contact started Zoro breaks it and turns his back on them, getting up and stretching his back out. Sanji decides that now is a good time to make himself scarce with the preparation of breakfast.


	12. Chapter 12

Sanji thinks that usually bands would do things like preparing for a competition and tour separately from something equally demanding and time consuming such as recording an album. Their band isn't usual though. The competition is in two weeks and, whilst Nami assures them that they're getting the right amount of money in to be able to produce the CDs, it's still a work in progress.

He's just thankful that the decision as to what would be on this album didn't really involve him. Luffy made the call, along with advice from Chopper and Nami. Chopper to advise about the feel of the album as a whole work and Nami to advise financially on what their best songs are.

Still, it means that they have to do a lot of re-recording. He wants to badly to get it right and he knows that he's much better than when he started but he really wants to just give it his all. The others are counting on him after all. The whole reason that he was hired was because whilst Zoro can sing and play at the same time, trying to do both at once for the duration of a whole song makes him slightly worse at both. So it's not just a matter of removing Zoro's vocals and adding Sanji's in, the whole thing has to be re-recorded. Which is great, but an awful lot of work.

Chopper makes them run through any bit that isn't  _just so_  over and over again as the album has to be the best possible version. Zoro's running on zero sleep and Sanji is highly strung. To make matters worse Sanji is far too antsy to focus. Zoro's song this morning keeps running through his head, the haunting lyrics and how much the whole thing seemed to hurt Zoro.

He wonders if he should have asked for that song. He did it so that Zoro would really think about his situation instead of doing the kind of mental acrobatics that he has been doing to avoid considering it so that he can say it's fine. But... in doing so does that make him manipulative? Is he playing the same sort of head games with Zoro that Baby does? Is he just as bad?

Whether it's from Zoro's lack of sleep or his internal angst he and Zoro keep throwing each other off of their game. His mental dialog keeps messing with his performance, even making him sing the wrong line, something which until now has never happened to him! His screw ups are only serving to make him feel worse and to make Zoro more and more irritable until eventually he snaps.

"Quit phoning it in curly-brow! If you're just gonna keep wasting my time like this I'll just go to sleep!" Zoro snarls at him, snapping Sanji's patience. It doesn't help that Zoro's far too on the mark, he's wasting everyone's time but goddamnit he's  _trying_!

"Well maybe if someone didn't sound like they were playing guitar with their FEET I could concentrate!" Sanji yells back. Zoro squares up against him and deliberately gets aggressively into the singer's space, he hates it when Zoro does that.

"I could do that and still sound better than you!" the guitarist snaps.

"Guys..." Usopp whines from behind the keyboard, in a futile attempt to defuse the tension that has been building between them.

"At least I'm not having to inhale chemical crap energy drinks to stay conscious! That stuff'll rot your brain out, or maybe it has already!" Sanji retorts.

"You wouldn't know intelligence if it bit you in the ass! You just skate through life singing and cooking, you're practically a disney princess!" Zoro accuses, making Sanji's jaw drop in shock.

"You- YOU BASTARD!" Sanji screeches in horror.

"THAT'S IT! IT'S TIME FOR LUNCH, DON'T MAKE ME SEPARATE YOU TWO!" Nami shouts over the microphone from the control booth.

"Alright, come on you. There's too many teenage hormones going on in here and you're both giving me a headache." Franky grumbles, hauling Sanji out of the room backwards, ignoring how Sanji is hissing at the infuriating guitarist.

Sanji knows that his screw ups are annoying Zoro but he's being meaner than usual about it and more so than can be explained by crankiness from lack of sleep.

Is he pissed about the song that Sanji made him write? Is this some obscure form of revenge? Not that Sanji wouldn't deserve that. Or perhaps Zoro is just over tired because he stayed up all night writing said song. Either way he's got Sanji nervous, fuming inside and shaking with tension.

"What's up with you two today? Zoro's all morbid and angry and you're twitchy as hell." Franky notes with a frown at Sanji.

"Ask  _him_!" Sanji huffs and stomps off to the kitchen on his own because, you know, he's a mature guy. Really.

Alone in the kitchen he decides that sandwiches will probably be the best thing to make, something nice and simple for everyone to eat and appropriate for the time of day. Although of course he has to customise the sandwiches for the ladies. Perhaps something elegant with lettuce and relishes.

As he gathers out the ingredients from the fridge he starts to realise that this supposedly simple meal is turning out to be far more complex than he started. Usually cooking would calm him down and distract him but this time thoughts of Zoro are distracting him from the cooking. And it's hardly qualifying as cooking when it's just sandwiches, good thing he'd not doing anything more complex!

He rests his palms tensely on the countertop and tries to give himself a moment or two to think. He's stressed and it's all because of Zoro. Well... Zoro and the upcoming album and contest. If he doesn't manage to get back on his game the album won't get finished and their lose the competition, everyone is counting on him. That kind of pressure has an affect on his stress levels but not in bringing them down. In fact the mere thought of performing in this competition right now is enough to set off a swarm of butterflies in Sanji's stomach.

Between that and his concerns that Zoro is never going to admit that what's going on with him and Baby is awful... he's a wreck. Fuck. He can't go on like this, he needs to just take a few deep breaths and calm the hell down. He turns his back on the counter and leans against it with his face in his hands. He focuses on breathing in and out whilst trying to force his body to relax. It starts to work and he feels some of the tension start to bleed out of his shoulders. Only then does he return to his food preparation and lets himself think about only what he's doing.

He swears that Zoro has some kind of sixth sense with this because he's only just about calmed down on his way through making Robin's lovely club sandwich when Zoro appears. Zoro, as he is also apparently a mature adult, get Sanji's full attention by shoving him in the shoulder and nearly knocking him on his ass and thoroughly undoing all of Sanji's attempts at relaxation.

"What the hell do you want?!" He demands, whipping around to glare at the scowling guitarist.

"Why are you holding back? You're wasting everyone's time." Zoro says again, apparently having not dropped whatever the hell kind of point he was making earlier before Nami and Franky separated them.

"Go jump in a lake, leave me alone! I don't know what it is that you're punishing me for right now but just drop it because I'm not interested in being the victim to your bad mood. So just go and fuck off." Sanji snarls back.

He wonders if perhaps Zoro has taken this tactic of being awful to someone he cares about when he's unhappy from Baby. He considers that since Baby is the only relationship Zoro's ever been in that it's certainly possible, but he's not interested in getting into that cycle with Zoro. And frankly, if that's how Zoro intends on treating him then perhaps he ought to reconsider pursuing something with Zoro after all.

"I'm not punishing you for shit! I'm mad at you because you're giving a shitty performance!" Zoro snaps at him, once more getting into Sanji's space.

"Fuck you! I'm trying my hardest here, sorry if it doesn't meet your bullshit and entirely made-up standards! It's been good enough for you lately, why the sudden change?" he snaps back irritably. It's not like he can say that Zoro's never complained before because Zoro has got on his back before about the tone or the emotion not being right, but not for some time. And even if he is right he doesn't need to be this much of a jerk about it!

"You're not trying your hardest, that's shit. I know you've got better in you and I'm not letting it go because this isn't a one off performance or practice! When you record something for an album you don't get to take it back and try again when it's released, it's there forever! That's the version people will hear most of the time, the version that'll be on the radio, do you really want it to hear that?" Zoro snaps.

"Well... fuck you. Maybe don't be such an asshole when you're trying to be nice." Sanji says grumbling.

"Didn't realise you needed me to hold your hand there, princess." the other man snorts.

"Oh, bite me." he argues back and returns to his sandwiches with a scowl.

"Look, I'm stressed out and worried about you and... and I've not done this before. It's new to me. I know Chopper's been recording our songs before but this is different. Knowing that it's going to on the album that we're releasing on this huge ass tour that everyone's dreams are hanging off is a little stressful!" Sanji says vehemently.

Zoro actually doesn't seem to have a smart ass answer for that and Sanji looks up at him after a few moments of long silence to see Zoro looking at him with an air of surprise. Sanji's eyes flicker to the painful looking cut over Zoro's left eye and his chest clenches.

"Quit worrying, idiot." Zoro sighs softly.

"Oh, gee, I never thought of that. I'll just do that right away!" Sanji chirps with saccharine falseness. His hands fumble and shake and suddenly the entire club sandwich of Robin's that he's been working on falls apart. Great. Something else to feel awful about.

He feels Zoro move rather than sees him, one moment he's glaring daggers at the sandwich and the next he's looking down at Zoro's ass from the vantage point of Zoro's shoulder as the guitarist sweeps him up and walks off with him fireman's lift style.

"Put me down!" Sanji yelps, squirming to get free. Unfortunately Zoro's arms don't budge and Zoro doesn't even drop him when he gets carried past the rest of their bandmates as they enter the kitchen, who all look up at him in a mixture of surprise and amusement.

"I MEAN IT!" He yells, pulling against Zoro's shoulder.

Zoro just ignores him and carries him through into the library before dropping him ungracefully on the chaise-lounge that Robin so frequently claims in this room. He tries to get up but Zoro is quicker, moving quickly over him and bracketing him against the seat of the chaise-lounge and stopping him from getting out.

"Calm your ass down, idiot." Zoro grumbles at him, looking at him as if he's a child having a temper tantrum.

"I'm not letting you up until you chill out. So you may as well start at the beginning, you said you were worried about me?" Zoro says with a weary sigh.

"Stop being a jerk, of course I'm worried about you. Now get your ass off of me!" he yells, trying to get away. Zoro groans and snags his wrists, holding him in place.

"Why are you worried about me?" Zoro says in a slightly patronisingly slow voice, as if Sanji is an especially dumb child.

"Uh, because of  _her_ , because your face is all carved up, 'cause I made you write that awful song when I shouldn't have and it looked like it really hurt and it kept you up all night. And we've got this goddamned competition and I've not been practicing enough and apparently my best isn't good enough for you and- and what if I fuck this up and we lose the competition? What if we lose to  _her_? I can't deal with that!" He babbles agitatedly. As he explains he thinks that he might actually be a little more worked up than he's previously considered that he was.

"Geez you can talk a lot in one go." Zoro grumbles and moves off of him, settling instead into sitting next to Sanji on the long seat.

"Don't tell me that because of learning all this you don't think I can handle myself anymore." Zoro says, looking at him in a suspicious way.

"You mean do I think you're all weak and incapable just because I know what your girlfriend does to you?" Sanji says raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

Zoro doesn't say anything but his face speaks volumes, he's actually a lot more concerned about that than he wants to let on. Clearly his respect means a lot to Zoro and if he's acting all worried and making Zoro think that he's got this image of him as some weak thing... well. No wonder he and Zoro have had trouble synching their musical energies together today, no wonder they both sound bad. He's angsting about Zoro and Zoro's worried about how Sanji sees him. The big gash on his face can't help either.

"If I was making a list of words to describe you then "weak" or "incapable" would be right at the bottom. "Idiot" and "fucking annoying bastard" however..." He trails off. Zoro punches him in the shoulder, not hard but enough to shove Sanji off balance whilst laughing.

"I'm just... worried that I shouldn't have asked for that song. It kept you up and I know it's going to have brought up things you didn't want to think about. You didn't sleep and recording it this morning looked like it hurt. The last thing I want to do is hurt you." Sanji continues, his worried disposition returing and displacing his earlier mirth.

"You intended that, I'm not stupid. You wanted me to think about all of that. You wanted me to get out of my own head and see what she sees me as, which happens to be prey. That wasn't accidental, right?" Zoro challenges, in a voice that suggests quite clearly that it's a rhetorical question.

"Well, yeah. But I didn't want to make you feel worse." the blonde mumbles guiltily, shrinking into the chair.

"I'm  _fine_. I've been through this before, I've felt like this before, I can handle it." Zoro explains, giving Sanji an unimpressed eye roll.

"And how  _do_  you feel, then?" the blonde challenges instead. It's probably a good idea to hear how Zoro feels from him, rather than simply assuming things about the other man's state of mind.

"Kinda shit." Zoro admits with a shrug and slouches back against the seat with a tired sigh, as if simply contemplating it drains him.

"As much as I care about Baby she just has this way of sucking all of the life out of me, she can just twist everything up and... well." Zoro laughs hollowly, gesturing to the gash on his face.

"I just feel done with her. As if she's taken everything and I literally have nothing else left to give her. Kind of... empty." he continues with a weary sigh.

Sanji sits up in interest at that. This is considerably more open and honest than Zoro's been lately, he'd been insisting that everything was fine and Sanji should just butt out not so long ago. Now it almost sounds like... like he's going to break up with her. But that can't be it, not if Zoro's felt like this before. After all, if feeling like this meant that Zoro would break up with her then they wouldn't be in this position now because Zoro would have left her and all would be well.

"So... what happened last time you felt like this?" Sanji questions hesitantly, not wanting to scare Zoro off of the subject yet still desperately wanting to know.

"I don't know. Stuff. I changed my mind but I can't really remember why." Zoro says quietly in the noiseless space of the warm library.

Sanji chews at his lip, he bets that he can guess why. He watches dust dance in a mote of light shining in from one of the big wide windows of the library, he can see why Robin likes it here. It's peaceful, almost like the world outside has stopped.

"I'm guessing she said things to make you think that you had no other option than to stay. Maybe made you feel like she's the only one who cares about you, did things to make you feel apart from the rest of your friends. Or she hurt you then made you feel like it was your fault and then perhaps even implied that you were a bad person for keeping it from your friends." Sanji guesses, quietly.

He chances a glance over at Zoro and sees the other man watching him with surprised eyes that slowly turn into a visage of anger, it's directed in rather than at Sanji though.

"Is it really that obvious and predicable? Am I just-" Zoro growls frustratedly.

"No, I've just done a lot of reading on it lately, and hearing the way she spoke to you last night..." Sanji cuts himself off with an angry shake of his head, he's got no way of speaking about the way she talked to Zoro without descending into a fierce snarling protective rage and repetitions of 'how dare she?!' said over and over.

"It's easy for me to see what's going on because it's not happening to me. I'm guessing she didn't start your relationship with a punch to the face, you'd have left right away if she did. She left it long enough to get under your skin and warp how you think. She's like... a virus. She's... I don't know, made you sick or something. This metaphor isn't really working, sorry, this is why you're the songwriter here and I just sing 'em." He laughs nervously.

"No, that's pretty accurate. It works, she makes me feel sick alright." Zoro shrugs.

"I'm sorry for losing it, I'm just worried I'm making this harder for you instead of easier." Sanji admits quietly. And it's pretty much his biggest fear about this whole thing, Zoro's let him into this dangerous secret and he's terrified he's going to screw it up and hurt Zoro more than he already has been.

"As much as I didn't want you or anyone else to know... it's a little easier now that you do. I feel saner somehow." Zoro says gently and shuts his eyes.

"That's good." Sanji agrees quietly.

He swipes his hand through the warm sunbeam, sending the dust dancing in the air.

"Maybe I want to get better." Zoro says so gently and so quietly that Sanji isn't sure that he's heard him right.

"What?" he questions, looking over at the other man who has a serious and sombre expression on his face.

"I don't want to do this with her anymore. If she's a virus then... then I want to get better, I want her out of my system. I'm done, there's nothing else I can do for her, I give up!" Zoro declares, leaning forward suddenly with his head in his hands.

Sanji sits up wide eyed and stares at Zoro, he can't deny that his heart has leapt into his throat with excitement. He thought that it would be forever until he heard Zoro say something like this, in fact he was starting to worry that he'd never hear Zoro say it.

"I- really?" He gasps.

"Yeah, really. I'm just tired of it. It was easier to pretend like it wasn't stupidly out of control when no one else knew but-" Zoro shrugs, he seems weary but Sanji is full of excitement instead.

"You're going to break up with her then?" he asks, unable to restrain his anticipation. Zoro head snaps up at that and he looks at Sanji with wide golden eyes.

"Whoa, no. That's not going to happen. I can't." Zoro says quickly, filling Sanji's heart with lead and dropping it.

"If I break up with her she'll lose it completely, I don't know what she'll do. I don't know if she'll tell the others or if she'll... I don't know what she's capable of. I used to think she'd never hurt me when she was sober but then she did, then I thought that she would never really hurt me... but I've had fractured ribs and now is what happens when I make her feel desperate." Zoro says seriously, gesturing to the newly acquired cut over his eye, one that so easily could have made Zoro blind in that one eye.

"Doesn't mean I can get her to leave me." Zoro adds with a grin.

"Wait- what?" Sanji blinks in surprise.

"I spend half my life trying to avoid pissing her off. I can certainly do all the things that she hates to get her to break up with me as punishment. And I plan to." Zoro grins.

"Anyway, we've got work to do. So move it." Zoro says, apparently deciding that the conversation is over and getting up.

"Hey, hold it. We've not resolved the other part of what's irritating me, namely that you're being a jerk!" Sanji points out, leaping up to his feet.

"Am not." Zoro answers back, turning to look at him cooly, as if that retort has worked on anyone as an argument enter since you were, what, seven?

"Yes you are, I'm trying my best and you're being a jerk!" He snaps irritably.

"No you're not." Zoro says flatly, his hands in his pockets.

"Fuck you! I am!" Sanji snaps, his temper flaring brightly. No matter how much he likes Zoro no one alive pisses him off so much.

"You are not. You're capable of so much more than this and I'm not going to settle for anything less from you, not for the album and not on stage either. So step up, you're better than that." Zoro orders him with a challenging glare.

"AGH!" Sanji yells in frustration, tangling his hands in his hair and tugging on it in frustration.

"How is it possible for any human being to be sweet and an asshole at the same time?!" He shouts, pointing at Zoro.

"Talent, motherfucker." Zoro responds with the smuggest grin Sanji has ever seen.

"You're not helping!" He snaps, his fists balling angrily at his sides.

"As much as I hate to admit it you're right, you shitty bastard! You've done more real shows than I have. I may have been on stage more than you but it was performing for bands that I had nothing to do with and didn't give a damn about, now that I have to sing for you I'm worried I might screw up! I mean, we're counting on this for all of our dreams and like hell am I going to lose to-" Sanji is cut off as Zoro jams his hand over his mouth.

"Shut up with that stupid shit." the guitarist grumbles at him.

"I'm SERIOUS!" He squawks, pulling Zoro's hand from him and preparing to launch into another explanation of why

Zoro makes a frustrated noise in his throat, good, at least he's as frustrated as Sanji feels. Suddenly he moves lightning fast and his fists catch in the front of Sanji's shirt and haul him close. They meet in a surprising clash of mouths and despite what Sanji wants to be able to say about his ability to lead in a situation like this he just melts. He's putty in Zoro's hands. When Zoro's hand rises up and touches Sanji's jaw he tilts his head into it and sighs.

He's imagined kissing Zoro about a million times, using their first kiss as fodder for his imagination but it doesn't even compare to this. Zoro's mouth is strong and confident against his, leading him to places that Sanji is only too happy to follow. It feels electric up his spine and his brain has entirely given up on processing anything to do with the situation and instead just quit.

They come apart naturally, noses still touching and both panting the same air in and out. Their breathing isn't coming faster from the exertion but the excitement. Sanji shoves aside the sensible voice in the back of his head that says that this is a bad idea. What does that voice know anyway? Fuck all is what it knows. He'd much rather kiss Zoro again.

And so he leans in to press another kiss to Zoro's perfect mouth. He goes slower this time, with him leading instead of Zoro. He wants to show Zoro just how he feels, how much he wants him, how much better a relationship he can give him than his... girlfriend.

FUCK.

"No, no, no." He breathes, shaking his head and pulling himself away from Zoro.

"Hey, wait, yes. Not no. I mean, I just started that to shut you up but this is much better than arguing, come here." Zoro practically purrs, pulling him back closer.

"No. You have a girlfriend and I- I can't." He says pulling away and really wishing that he didn't have to.

"Didn't we literally just have a conversation about how I'm done with her? Just moments ago?" Zoro points out with an irritated scowl.

"Yeah, but you're not are you? You're still actually with her and you've already told me that you've felt like this before but you're still with her." He reasons.

Sanji closes his eyes. He doesn't want to make this decision but he has to, for his own sanity and wellbeing.

"I'm not willing to start anything with you whilst you're still with her. I won't let myself get involved with you and get my heart broken if you change your mind and stay with her. I won't- I can't do that. And if you're really so sure that you and her are going to be over soon then the wait won't kill you, will it?" He points out, rubbing the bridge of his nose to ward off to the stress headache that might come calling at this rate.

Zoro is staring at him a little wide eyed and Sanji realises that he said that Zoro abandoning him for Baby would break his heart. That's... probably more than he really meant to say but hell, he's said it now, and it's probably better that he has his cards on the table here. So, on that note...

"Zoro I really  _really_  like you. I'm okay with just being your friend if that's all we can be. You're an awesome musician and I love playing with you, that's not a consolation prize, believe me. But yeah, I really like you and I'd rather be with you than not. And I know that getting out of this thing with  _her_  is probably complicated but I can wait, and I will. And even if you leave her that doesn't mean we have to do this either. If you change your mind or you can't deal with being with someone after all that, then... like I said, I can handle that. But I can't deal with being with you and then you choosing her over me. I won't do that." He states defiantly. He has his terms, he really cares about Zoro but he's got enough self respect and self preservation to not let Zoro rip him apart.

It's a little daunting to put all of that out there but not being straight with Zoro about his feelings would just prolong the whole mess and frankly anything that puts unnecessary time between him and hot makeouts with Zoro was not okay in his book.

Zoro seems a little stunned at how forthright he's been but after a few moments his face rearranges itself into something that looks a little like quiet admiration, not that Zoro would admit to such a thing.

"That was kind of a ballsy move there, curly-brow." Zoro notes, and Sanji can definitely hear the tone of surprise in his voice now, even though his face is a schooled and put together expression. That's not fair either, Zoro shouldn't get to look cool and calm when Sanji is sure that his own face is beet red and probably broadcasting in big neon letters just how much he wants Zoro.

"Do you remember what I said after the wedding?" Zoro asks with a sigh and he sits back down on the chair.

"About not everyone getting to be as happy as Usopp?" Sanji frowns, that was the conversation that had made him think for sure that Zoro was single.

"Yeah. I thought... or maybe she made me think that I'd never meet someone else who made me happy. That kind of feeling where you feel like that other person is almost part of you, like how they are. And I figured that she was right so what was the harm in staying with her. DON'T answer that." Zoro adds sharply as Sanji opens his mouth to list off just all of the reasons that it does hurt Zoro to be with her, starting with the injuries to Zoro's face and moving downwards.

He snaps his jaw shut but shoots Zoro a look that shows him just how displeased with that idea he is.

"But... what if I was wrong. What if it was you?" Zoro says, oh so quiet and genuine that it takes Sanji's breath away. The guitarist is watching him silently, his golden coloured eyes studying him for any reaction.

"Zoro... you shouldn't break up with her for me, you should do it for you." he insists with an aching heart.

"Tough shit blondie. You don't get to decide if, what or why I do anything. I know all of your online articles and guides say that I ought to do this for me and then stay away from relationship after that for a while and heal and find myself and all that shit. But I don't care!" the other man snaps and levels Sanji with a look that dares him to challenge him. Knowing a lost battle when he sees one he holds his hands up in surrender, regardless of what he wants Zoro will do whatever Zoro will do.

"Okay, since we're being all honest and shit," Sanji begins, resting his foot on the edge of the cushion as he looks over at Zoro, "do you love her?"

"Yes and no." Zoro answers easily.

"That clears up jack shit." Sanji points out irritably.

"No, it does. When you met her first... when she introduced herself as Amélie I mean. I'm guessing that girl was smart, pretty, kind of arty, maybe a sort of strange mix of shy and forward, with this smile and that look that made you feel like you were the only person in the room. Like you could look at her and see that she was human, that she had weaknesses and insecurities and you wanted to know them and find out all about her. Am I right?" Zoro asks, looking at him. Sanji can't help but notice the slightly wistful tone that Zoro says that in, and despite the fact that Zoro's actually dating that girl and not him... he still feels a hot flare of jealousy.

"Yeah, I guess." Sanji nods.

"I love her. But you've seen her far more recently than I have. The last time I saw anything longer than just a glimpse of her was months ago and before that about the same. I get the other girl. I get the one that's cold and angry, that goes from burning intense obsession about her work and me to violently angry. I get the girl that's just as likely to shove me into bed without even asking me how my day was as I am to get one that'll attempt to cut my eyeball out apparently." Zoro says, his voice betraying stress as he gestures to his eye.

"And if they were different people I'd be golden, but she's not. She's the same girl. I've not seen the girl that I loved in so long and fucking honestly I don't even want to. I'll love that first part of her but there's just no way it's worth dealing with the psycho that she's inside anymore. So. Yes and no. That going to be a problem?" Zoro is asking him now.

Sanji takes a second to actually seriously consider that. Amélie was Zoro's first love and they share so much history, he'd be dumb to think that Zoro wouldn't still care about her in some little part of him forever, as long as he's not about to go off chasing Baby or pining for her forever then he supposes that it's okay.

"No. I'm not thrilled but no, I can deal with that, it makes sense." He concedes.

"Well, if you're about done bitching I think we have some lunch and recording still to deal with." Zoro insists, standing up. His brashness making Sanji roll his eyes. He might be falling in love with the idiot but it doesn't mean he's not still one of the most annoying people that Sanji has ever met.

He mutters under his breath about annoying moss headed idiots as he gets to his feet and, out of habit, dusts himself off. He looks up to see Zoro giving him a strange kind of look that has Sanji puzzled.

"What?" He demands, his hands on his hips in an unimpressed fashion.

"Just trying to work out how pissed you'd be if I kissed you again anyway." Zoro says, his eyes dropping to Sanji and making him redden considerably under the attention.

"How about you don't find out." Sanji suggests irritably. Frankly he's not sure his self restraint could take that kind of testing.

Sanji walks out of the library feeling simultaneously better and also kind of worse. At least he and Zoro are on the same page now but he really wishes that Zoro just wasn't with Baby at all any more. He flicks a glance over his shoulder at Zoro and is 90% sure that Zoro is watching his ass as he leads the way out of the room. Sanji shoves the idea out of his head, he really doesn't need the extra temptation right now. He just needs to chill out about this whole thing, Zoro and Baby will break up and then he and Zoro can be... well. They can stop dancing around each other and get over all of this unusable tension. It's not helping their work or Sanji's sanity.

He comes out into the kitchen and sees the others all sitting around at the main table eating pizzas. Though Luffy seems to have a full sized one to himself.

"I- wh- where did that pizza come from?" Sanji blinks, stunned.

"They deliver!" Luffy chirps happily and scarfs another cheesy slice down in one mouthful.

"We didn't want to disturb you." Robin smiles up at him.

"I wasn't even gone that-" Sanji tries but gets cut off.

"Over half an hour you two been gone, bro. It's cool though, pull up and chair and eat." Franky says with a grin.

Over half an hour? How... but...? Agh. What was it about Zoro that just ate all of his attention? His friends and bandmates were waiting for lunch and he just disappeared off with Zoro instead. He was kissing Zoro when he was supposed to be cooking! Goddamnit!

"I'm so sorry." He apologises to Nami, sitting in a seat next to her.

"Don't worry Sanji, we just didn't want to interrupt." Nami says airily and smiles at him as she tucks a pretty strand of her perfect tangerine hair behind one of her ears.

"But we had to pull you away from eavesdropping on them at the doo-OUCH!" Brook yelps as a sudden smack sound comes from under the table. It might be entirely coincidental but Nami's balance seems to shift at the same time and she fixes Brook with a fierce glare.

Sanji decides to stay well out of that and eat a slice of pizza instead. Zoro seems to be similarly occupied although Sanji can feel his eyes on him throughout the whole thing. Sanji deliberately does not look at him, he can barely keep his face from flushing just at the memory of kissing him, let alone if Zoro is making eye contact with him!

He manages to avoid Zoro's gaze for the whole meal and when it's over he deliberately follows Zoro back down to the studio so that he cunningly doesn't have to feel Zoro's eyes on him or have Zoro looking at his ass again.

...Unfortunately that means that he's free to stare at Zoro's ass and that's worse. Okay, it's better actually. In a terrible sort of way. Sanji's supposed to be restraining himself until Zoro is a single man again, but walking behind him is just... damn. How does a guy even come by an ass like that? Is it all of the cycling Zoro does because god! His hands itch and he keeps them firmly to himself.

His plan of avoiding eye contact is rather foiled when he has to sing again, as he was never granted his own microphone after Nami found out that sharing usually worked so well for them. Sanji chews nervously on his lip, he wants to perform better this time, both for himself and for Zoro who both challenges him and believes that he can do better. He just has to settle into Zoro's headspace, to feel what he felt when he wrote the music and empathise with those feelings or substitute his own.

"Broken Heart!" Luffy declares boldly, throwing his drumsticks up in the air in excitement.

"That one does always go down well, might be an idea to re-record that one with Sanji." Nami agrees, settling into her space by Chopper.

Sanji's heart drops. Broken Heart was the first song that Zoro wrote after Baby publicly ditched him and it's famous as such. He's frequented forums about their band and found pages and pages of discussion about what the song really means as it's meaning seems to be so conflicted. Is it hopeful? Despairing? All of the fan controversy and the legend behind the song of Baby's exit make it one of their most popular songs.

Of course, all of these armchair music theorists are missing a vital piece of information that Sanji has. Baby never actually broke up with him, or not permanently. He doesn't know how long they were apart before she made Zoro take her back but he'd bet it wasn't long.

He doesn't like the song, although he's not sung it lately. Not since he found out about Zoro. He couldn't ever wrap his head around the lyrics either so it was hard for him to attune to the song. But now... he mentally scans through the lyrics and starts to think that he might have been missing something, just like all the other people who didn't know Zoro's secret. The more lyrics he thinks about in the song the more he thinks that...

"Earth to Sanji." Usopp laughs and with a start Sanji realises that they're all waiting for him. He's the first thing on this song, no instruments first, just his voice. Zoro has an eyebrow quirked up at him and a slight tug of a smirk on his lips. Sanji shakes his head and shut his eyes, focusing on the song. The beginning is soft and clear, so he starts like that and as he does Franky's bass follows him.

" _I'll start this broken heart_

_I'll fix it up so it will work again_

_Better than before_

_Then I'll star in a mystery_

_A tragic tale of all that's yet to come_

_Fingers crossed there will be love"_

See... that line there, he'd always assumed as everyone else did that Zoro was hoping for new love after his old love left him. But... she didn't leave him. And Sanji recalls Zoro's statement about how Baby almost had a split personality and he wonders if Zoro had been hoping that the girl he used to know would return to him and love him again...

" _But I get carried away with every day_

_And every fantasy_

_The deeper the wound,_

_The harder I swoon and wish that that was me_

_There's so much to say_

_But no words to convey_

_The loneliness building with each passing day_

_But I'm getting used to it_

_You have to get used to it"_

Sanji's eyes snap open and he stares at Zoro as he runs through that chorus. As soon as it mentioned the word wound he realises that this song wasn't what everyone thought it was. It was a plea for help. Zoro had written this hoping that it'd make no sense and that someone would realise and find out what was wrong. It even says that he has no words, he can't tell anyone, and he can't blame Zoro. Private and proud Zoro couldn't just open up a conversation with that kind of a weight in it, he couldn't just say "hey, I need help because my girlfriend hurts me".

Fuck. That was what this song was about. And the loneliness... how Zoro's own lies and cover ups isolated him from people and how he'd started to accept what was happening as normal. How hadn't he seen before? How had no one seen!?

He tries to focus on singing and begins the next verse, his eyes locked right on Zoro. He does his best to focus on the technical parts of the song and not let it show how much this is ripping through him. But then he thinks fuck it, let Zoro see how this makes him feel, it'll probably "add something" to the song or some shit like that.

" _I'll devise the best disguise_

_A brand new look and take them by surprise_

_They'll never guess what's not inside_

_I'll express myself with ease,_

_With confidence and character complete_

_With fingers crossed, they'll talk to me_

_But I get carried away with every page_

_In every magazine_

_The cheaper the thrill,_

_the deeper I fill my head with blasphemy_

_There's so much to say_

_But no words to convey_

_The loneliness building with each passing day_

_But I'm getting used to it_

_You have to get used to it"_

Zoro takes off with the guitar for the small instrumental break, but his eyes don't leave Sanji's. He can see that Zoro knows that he knows. He knows the next line of this song and hurts to think about. Zoro never even thought that he'd meet anyone else, he thought that he'd have to stay with Baby forever, unable to leave her. The idiot really meant it when he said at Usopp's wedding that happiness like Usopp and Kaya's wasn't for everyone, he meant himself, that he'd never have that. He'd given up. That fucking idiot.

How could he...? No, how could she warp Zoro enough to let him think that? He ought to-

Shit, he needs to sing again. He swallows thickly and sings, soft, and just for Zoro.

" _I'll destroy this useless heart_

_I'll fuck it up so it'll never beat again_

_Not just for me but for anyone"_

He has to kick his tone up for the next part, just because that's how it goes. But he doesn't feel energetic or lively, he feels hurt and angry for Zoro. So he forces that passion into it instead but it starts to fall apart as he can't hold onto it any longer.

" _But I get carried away_

_With every phrase and made up malady_

_The longer I hide behind these lies,_

_The more I disintegrate_

_There's so much to say_

_But no words to convey_

_The loneliness building with each passing day_

_You never get used to it_

_You just have to live with it"_

Sanji listens to the music fade but his feelings don't fade with it. This isn't like usual, usually when he steps into Zoro's head to sing from his perspective the emotion that he'd been channelling fades as the song does but this doesn't. This is his emotions too. He loathes himself and their friends for not seeing that something was so wrong, for not seeing every lie and disguise that Zoro threw up to keep them from the truth was just that, a lie.

He hates that Zoro felt and still feels that he had to hide. But most of all he hates that Zoro thinks that there will never be someone else, that part of him believes Baby when she tells him that no one else will want him, he wonders how many times she'd told him that even before she slashed up his face with a knife.

Even from what Zoro told him earlier the other man was only starting to consider and have a little bit of hope that Sanji himself could be someone that might want him. Fuck. He can't let Zoro think any of this any longer.

Zoro is watching him with big wary eyes and so Sanji can see the surprise that flashes across his face in detail when he grabs a sudden handful of his shirt and crashes their mouths together. He's the one with the force this time, as if he could actually shove the idea that Zoro is WRONG about that into his head through his mouth. Zoro shouldn't get used to that, he shouldn't lie and most of all he shouldn't give up on love because there's no one at all that Sanji has ever loved more than him.

Fuck doing this the right way, fuck waiting until things were proper and right, Zoro needs this now and to be completely goddamn honest, so does he.

Aaaand... he just kissed Zoro in front of everyone. Which was rather unplanned but... well. He looks warily around the others whilst Zoro gives him a brainless look that suggests his mind has been short circuited.

"Woo!" Usopp cheers quietly. Luffy laughs and if he's not mistaken he sees Brook blush ever so slightly. Franky on the other hand looks mortified and distraught and Sanji wonders if there's going to be a problem there.

"Franky, you lost, pay up." Nami says over the microphone, her catlike grin visible even through the shine of the glass.

"Nooooo." Franky whines miserably and Sanji relaxes.

"You bet against  _Nami_." Usopp points out with a snort.

Sanji returns his attention to Zoro who has now gathered enough of his brain together to give Sanji a self satisfied cocky look. He knows Zoro's just lording it over him about his inability to keep to his word and keep his hands to himself.

"Oh shut it, moss brain." He mutters.

A/n: the song this time is "broken heart" by motion City Soundtrack


	13. Chapter 13

“So we've only got two more songs and then the album's done. So Luffy says anyway, he might change his mind,” Zoro explains as he hauls a massive basket of his and Sanji's clean laundry up the stairs, Sanji had taken it up the first half and Zoro was taking it up the second. This sort of thing is a problem when you live on the top floor.

 

“How long do they take to actually make though, I mean physically speaking? Does someone else burn them or...?” Sanji frowns, he really doesn't know anything about creating an album.

 

“Well- AH!” Zoro jumps and interrupts himself mid-sentence.

 

Sanji tilts his head and hears the soft sound of a phone vibrating, a slight light shines through the back pocket in Zoro's jeans. However, the basket of laundry is way too big for him to hold one handed and he's not got a real opportunity to answer it.

 

“I'll get that for you, shall I?” Sanji smirks, reaching his hand into Zoro's back pocket and pulling the phone out and maybe squeezing Zoro's ass a little as he does it.

 

“Pervert,” Zoro snorts, climbing the steps.

 

Sanji grins. He only kissed Zoro in front of the others that morning but it's nice not to have to hide everything he feels about the other man now. Thankfully the others agreed to keep their change in relationship quiet for the moment, Zoro wants Baby to break up with him, not murder him which if she found out about them on twitter she just might.

 

Sanji follows Zoro up the stairs and looks at the screen.

 

“It just says BB, there's no name.” Sanji frowns, he wonders if it's a telemarketer or something.

 

“Oh SHIT.” Zoro swears and sprints up the last few steps and drops the basket to the floor.

 

“BB: Baby. Throw it here.” Zoro calls and Sanji does so, unable to refuse Zoro anything when he looks at him as urgently and desperately as he just did. Zoro catches the phone and answers it instantly.

 

“Hi! Sorry I was-” Zoro starts and is then cut off. Sanji openly watches as Zoro freezes to the spot and the muscles of his jaw tighten. He can't hear what Baby is saying this time but he can hear her tone of voice even from the distance he's at. He climbs the rest of the stairs until he's at the same level as Zoro.

 

Zoro squeezes his eyes shut and frowns, his hand comes up to rub the back of his own neck anxiously.

 

“Come over? Yeah I can... sure. Give me half an hour and I'll-” Zoro starts. Baby's voice snaps angrily at him through the phone and Sanji watches Zoro flinch.

 

“Okay, or twenty, I can... uh...” Zoro pulls the phone from his ear and Sanji can see that she hung up on him. Zoro scowls and picks up the laundry again, his phone still in hand and jogs up the last flight of stairs and into his bedroom. He drops the laundry and reaches under his bed to pull out an elderly looking laptop. He drops onto his bed and turns it on, his foot jigging nervously as he does so.

 

Sanji keeps his mouth shut. He doesn't want Zoro to go but the other man has to decide that for himself. Instead he stands and watches as Zoro types something onto the laptop. The guitarist's eyes scan the screen for a few moments and after some further clicking he reads something for a minute.

 

“Fuck.” Zoro hisses and falls backwards onto his bed.

 

Sanji walks over to the bed and looks at the laptop. On screen is an article published just that day, it talks about the competition and how their band is confirmed to be competing; something that Zoro had led Baby to believe wouldn't be happening. Further down the article the author wonders why Baby is competing at all as she, unlike the other entrants, is neither a supernova herself nor has one in her band.

 

“She's going to be livid. She's either going to want to screw my brains out to make herself feel better or punch my lights out to make me feel worse. I don't want either. But shit... she's expecting me now.” Zoro groans, his hands covering his face.

 

“Do you always do this? Look up what's going on in her life before you go see her?” Sanji frowns, picking up the laptop and putting it on Zoro's bedside table.

 

“I'd be dumb not to, I need to know what I'm walking in on.” Zoro answers, looking up at Sanji like it’s obvious.

 

“That's not normal is it?” the man says quietly, glancing down.

 

“No, you shouldn't have to worry about something like that.” Sanji says flatly and drops himself onto the bed beside Zoro. He folds his arms over his stomach and laces his fingers together.

 

“Will you promise me something?” Sanji asks softly, looking over at Zoro. 

 

“I'm not going to go and see her.” Zoro grumbles towards the ceiling.

 

“I wasn't actually going to say that.” Sanji points out, rolling onto his side to look at Zoro.

 

“Oh, what then?” the other man says in surprise, leaning up on his elbow to look down at Sanji.

 

“If... if this is gonna work... you've got to promise to tell me if I do or say anything that makes you think of her or, I don't know, makes you react like this. I don't want you to think about me like you think about her. Promise me?” Sanji pleads, looking up at Zoro.

 

“You're not her you'd never-” Zoro frowns, shaking his head.

 

“Then it won't be hard to promise me that will it?” Sanji shoots back.

 

Zoro's frown softens and he leans over to brush Sanji's hair out of his eyes. The blonde protests and fusses with his hair until it's back in place.

 

“I promise. It's never gonna happen but... I promise.” Zoro says quietly and leans down to kiss Sanji. Sanji's heart flutters at the small kiss and he can't help but reach up just to touch Zoro's jaw to hold him there a little longer, he feels Zoro's earrings clink lightly on his fingers.

 

“So, you're really not going then?” He asks, honestly he's a little surprised and incredibly relieved. He hadn't thought that Zoro would be able to keep his resolve to leave her so soon.

 

“She's going to be insanely angry. The last time I stood her up was entirely by accident, the others took me out without me knowing about it in advance so I ended up not being able to go. She got me in the ribs so hard it felt like I had a stitch for a week.” Zoro says softly and Sanji can see from how tense he is that he's really worried.

 

Sanji sits up and runs his hand up and down Zoro's back soothingly, he can feel how the other man's muscles are all bunched up and tense. He runs his fingers over them through Zoro's shirt, trying to get them to relax a little. He doesn't really know what to say. He doesn't want to tell Zoro to go because if he does then he'll just be in the same position as before, besides, if Zoro is right and she'll either fuck him or fuck him up... he doesn't want either of those things to happen, selfish though it might be.

 

“I can stay here with you... while you wait it out, I mean.” He offers, not knowing if it'll help or not.

 

“If it makes you feel better.” Zoro says with an indifferent shrug and Sanji smirks, knowing that Zoro wants him to stay but is not quite able to ask him to do so.

 

“I think I will.” He muses and rubs a tense knot of muscle underneath Zoro's shoulder blade, making the other man groan in pleasure.

 

“Hope you don't mind this, I need to do something with my hands when I'm nervous.” Sanji grins, giving Zoro another opportunity to take his help without having to admit it. .

 

“Well, if it helps you feel better, sure.” Zoro manages before dropping his head onto the bed and starting to melt under Sanji's fingers.

 

“I've got a plan for tomorrow by the way.” Sanji says softly, running his fingers into Zoro's neck and rubbing at the muscle there.

 

“Hm?” Zoro groans, his face in his arm.

 

“I know a few venues that match the profile of where the competition might be held. I know they're trying to keep it under wraps at the moment until right before but I know what they're looking for. I can go ask around. There's a venue about half a day's drive from here, someone I know owns it. He'll tell me if he knows something.” Sanji explains, though he must admit to himself that he's not looking forward to that visit.

 

“That's... a really good idea. A heads up would be a great help.” Zoro agrees and Sanji rubs his other hand over Zoro's lower back, pleased to have distracted Zoro's mind a little.

 

Sanji lets his mouth run as he wanders over the slowly relaxing muscles of Zoro's back, he talks about anything and everything except Baby, just to distract Zoro.

 

“I mean, it's not like I miss the Baratie or anything. It was home and my old man's dream, I love the place. And I did like the late start to the day, being able to roll out of bed around midday was pretty sweet, I could have done without all the really late nights though. But I have to say-” He cuts himself off as Zoro's phone rings on the bedspread by Zoro's shoulder and he feels Zoro's entire body flinch, undoing all of his hard work at relaxing him.

 

The two of them fall silent and look at the ringing phone as if it might grow teeth and bite them. It's well past the time when Zoro was supposed to be at Baby's. Sure enough the phone screen reads BB.

 

“Can I...?” He asks, looking at Zoro.

 

“Anyone but me.” Zoro mutters, cringing. Sanji picks up the phone and holds it to his ear, giving Zoro a sly wink as he does so, the other man watches him with interest.

 

“Hello, Zoro's phone.” Sanji says, picking up. He then pulls the phone a little way from his head and fakes shouting off into the distance.

 

“Oi, Zoro! You left your phone in the kitchen!” He yells. He grins as he hears the call disconnect.

 

“Oops.” He says innocently and passes the phone back.

 

“Well that'll make her back off for a bit.” Zoro smiles and it's so hesitant and not quite believing that things can be going okay that... that Sanji just wants to kiss him all over again. So he does, because he can now.

 

“Wanna go watch one of your shitty horror movies?” Sanji suggests, wanting to get his mind off of her.

 

“If you think you can manage to not cry.” Zoro challenges him.

 

“You're confusing me with Usopp.” Sanji insists as he gets up off of the bed. Zoro does the same and Sanji notices that he doesn't pick his phone up to take it with him.

 

“Eugh, I hope not.” Zoro grumbles and heads out of the room. Sanji follows him and shuts Zoro's door behind him. For tonight at least he's won against Baby.

 

 

Sanji's feeling reasonably okay the next morning despite his all-night horror movie marathon and the subsequent sleepless night after Zoro made him watch some abomination of film called “Eight Legged Freaks”. He's blaming the sleepiness on the phantom itching over his skin from phantom spiders not, as Zoro asserted, that he was a wimpy little girl.

 

He detours through the Baratie to say hi to Zeff first and remind him to eat right, then he heads over to Zoro's coffee shop for a quick caffeine shot, after that he's got plans to go to the Okama Way club. It's one Sanji hates frequenting but it's a big enough venue and has two stages so it's a viable candidate.

 

His plan is swiftly derailed when he walks into Zoro's coffee shop to see Baby standing in the middle of the room screaming.

 

“I KNOW he's here! Stop LYING!” She shrieks at the poor bastard behind the counter who has the dubious fortune of not being Zoro.

 

“He's not here!” The guy squeaks in terror.

 

Sanji knows for a fact that Zoro is there as he saw him leave for work that morning.

 

“What are you doing here Baby?” Sanji questions, as if he doesn't know. She's there to punish Zoro for ignoring her last night and she's clearly already in a fierce rage. She looks at him startled for a second before turning her attention back to the hapless barista.

 

“SEE! He must be here if HE'S here! He's here for Zoro, so WHERE is he!?” Baby snarls at the guy.

 

“Uhm. Not to interrupt but I'm here for coffee. Why are you here?” Sanji cuts in again, this time moving between Baby and the counter.

 

“Liar! You're lying!” She accuses him rather redundantly and points a sharply manicured finger in Sanji's face.

 

“GET OUT HERE ZORO!” She yells, completely uncaring about the staring cafe patrons. Quick as anything she leaps the counter in a blur of short dress and flowing black hair and lands on the other side. She turns and looks under the counters as if expecting Zoro to be crouching behind them. From her thwarted expression Sanji can only guess that Zoro is not, in fact, hiding behind them.

 

“You can't be back here! You need to leave!” The guy behind the counter yelps, not being especially authoritative.

 

“AH HAH!” She declares and bends down to yank at something. Sanji comes closer to the counter and sees Baby hauling on a cellar door with all her might, it's not budging though.

 

“That... doesn't look like it opens. He's really not here Baby, honest, he's back home.” Sanji lies shamelessly.

 

Baby rounds on him, breathless and angry. Some part of Sanji recognises that the glint in her eye is dangerous and he wonders what tells she has that Zoro is attuned to. Does the tilt of her head right now or the wideness of her eyes mean that she's going to attack him, would Zoro already be trying to pacify her or back away? He wonders where Zoro is actually hiding and his eyes fall onto the cellar door that Baby is trying to wrench open and wonders if Zoro is hiding in the dark down there.

 

“Why is his bike here then, hm?” She demands of him.

 

“I drove him home last time he had a shift, we didn't take the bike with us. Baby, people are staring. He's not here.” Sanji says with forced gentleness, he's starting to worry if she's all there or not.

 

Baby straightens up and looks around the room, wild eyed, as if having just noticed the customers for the first time. She flicks her angry gaze around them, some pretend that she's not there and studiously ignore the whole thing whilst others gape openly at her. Her face reddens as someone takes a picture of her on their phone and she sprints from the cafe, red faced and furious.

 

“I'm sorry about that everyone.” The guy behind the counter apologises.

 

Sanji looks out of the glass windows and sees Baby's car screech off down the road.

 

“She's gone.” He notes quietly.

 

“Zoro, she's left. Come out.” The guy behind the counter says. Sanji looks at his name tag and sees that it reads “Johnny”, Sanji remembers Zoro mentioning him before. He always seemed boundlessly incompetent, Zoro having to always go in to fix his mistakes. But... well, Sanji can place a fair bet that Zoro was not in fact coming here, and was instead going to see the girl who just left in a rage.

 

The cellar door behind the counter clicks and a lock is slid back and slowly, cautiously, the door opens. Zoro peeks through the crack and upon not seeing Baby there, emerges fully, dusting himself off.

 

“Hiding from a girl like that, ought to be ashamed.” Sanji catches one patron saying. He whirls around angrily, trying to spot who it was.

 

“She's just a girl, what could she have done to him? Look how strong that guy looks.” Someone else says. Sanji zeros his gaze in on them. The two are sharing a table and looking at Zoro disparagingly.

 

Sanji feels how tightly he's gritting his teeth. These fucking bastards know nothing of Zoro's situation, of how she tortures him. They're just assuming that a guy like Zoro couldn't ever be hurt by someone female, by someone who looks like Baby.

 

“He probably started it.” The guy adds, sending a ripple of dangerous rage running up Sanji's spine.

 

Sanji doesn't realise that he's started moving towards the other guy until there's a fist in the back of his shirt. He turns to see Zoro holding him back by his shirt.

 

“Don't. It's nothing I've not heard before, I'm fine.” He says softly, just for him to hear.

 

All of the fight goes out of Sanji and when he turns to Zoro he sees that the other man's hands are shaking slightly. Zoro seems to notice too and presses them firmly against the work surface to suppress it.

 

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Zoro asks, with a smile that seems to Sanji to be too bright and too brittle to be real. Fuck, he hates seeing Zoro like this.

 

“I wanted to see you, I was heading to the venue to check it out and I thought I'd visit. I heard the coffee is good and the baristas are cute.” He smirks at Zoro.

 

“Shut up idiot.” Zoro mutters, his face reddening ever so slightly.

 

“I thought I'd come see you and get a drink before my long drive today.” Sanji adds with a smile and Zoro's cute red blush.

 

“I'm sure you'll like what I give you.” Zoro nods, looking like he's rolling through a mental list of drinks recipes, entirely oblivious to quite what he just said.

 

“I'm sure I will.” Sanji grins and flashes a wink at Zoro, making his entire face redden so he contrasts with his own hair.

 

“OH!” Johnny exclaims at Zoro's side, looking right at Sanji like he hadn't noticed him before.

 

“ _This_ is the hot blonde that you've been-OW!” Jonny yelps and Sanji suspects very strongly that Zoro just kicked him under the counter.

 

“Uh, I mean, hi. I am just meeting you and hearing about you now for the first time.” Johnny amends, warily holding a hand out to Sanji.

 

“Hi. I'm Sanji.” Sanji snickers and shakes the guy's hand whilst Zoro skulks off muttering to himself as he makes Sanji a drink.

 

Sanji watches his new boyfriend for a moment. And... Zoro is his boyfriend right? They kissed and they'd been talking about being together and... but he was still with Baby. So what did that make him? The home wrecker? Admittedly the home that was Zoro and Baby's relationship ought to be condemned and torn down for the health of everyone involved and this metaphor is completely getting away from Sanji now. He shakes his head to dislodge that stupid line of thought but knows all too well that it won't go away for long.

 

“How often does that happen?” Sanji asks Johnny quietly, shooting the other barista a sideways glance as he watches Zoro do something complex looking with the espresso machine.

 

“Uh, never. Zoro never talks about you. Ever. Nope.” Johnny answers sharply and quietly, trying to make sure that Zoro doesn't hear him.

 

“Not that, although that's interesting too. I mean Baby coming in like that.” Sanji clarifies as quietly as he can. Zoro is rifling through some syrups and he doesn't have much time to get this answer out of Zoro's co-worker.

 

“Oh,” Johnny says in surprise, looking at Sanji.

 

“Probably once or twice a month, maybe. Though some months we don't see her at all, but I guess she tours. She's not usually like that though, Zoro usually either rushes out with her to stop her screaming at him in here or else he hides. She's never flipped out like that looking for him though.” Johnny answers quickly and snaps a smile on his face when Zoro turns back around to them with Sanji's finished drink in hand.

 

Zoro looks suspiciously at the two of them as he hands Sanji his drink.

 

“So, hot blonde, huh?” He grins wolfishly at Zoro.

 

“UGH. It's on the house, just go you fucking loser.” Zoro groans and shoves him away.

 

“Later!” Sanji calls over his shoulder with a laugh. He laughs as he sees Zoro smack Johnny on the arm as he looks through the big glass windows of the shop. His small drops though when he's walked out of view of the cafe. Baby is escalating then. And there's no denying that Zoro seemed genuinely scared too. The vision of Zoro's shaking hands flashes in Sanji's mind and he knows he's not going to be able to forget them. How much worse is this going to get?

 

He doesn't have any answers for himself so he keeps swirling around the same problem over and over again. Zoro's coffee is actually perfect for him, a beautiful deep dark flavour with a shot of sweetness hidden underneath it all. Not unlike Zoro himself. Oh hell, did he really just think that? Sanji slaps his forehead. Zoro's making him go all mushy now, at least he didn't say it out loud to the other man.

 

He hops into his car outside the back of Zoro's work and starts his drive to the Okama Way club, it's further than he'd like to go but he's on a mission. It's mid afternoon by the time he pulls up outside it. He gets out of his car, glad to stretch his legs and he tosses his long since empty coffee cup in the bin and steels himself to enter the club.

 

The lights are off right now because it's the afternoon and it'll be shut, however Sanji knows all too well that in the night the front of the building lights up in garish pink and blue with a neon image of its owner Iva kicking his leg as he sprawls across the name of the club. He loathes this place and everyone in it.

 

Going around the edge of the building and into the alleyway at the back it's not long before Sanji encounters the door, it's the staff entrance and he's pretty sure that someone will be in. In fact he knows just who will be in. Ivankov, or just Iva.

 

Sanji and Zeff have an odd relationship, they both like to piss each other off. Iva has known Sanji since he was small and Zeff first was able to get into the club owning business. Sanji being the sensible human being that he is took an instant dislike to Ivankov and his weird associates, Zeff found this hilarious and retrospectively made Iva his godfather. Sanji thought this was unfair for several reasons. Firstly that he had no other godparents as neither of them were religious, (though Zeff had sent him to a catholic school as a kid as another form of passive aggressive paternity) and secondly that it was IVA!!! Every so often Zeff would punish him by insisting that he visit his 'poor godfather', Sanji would have to do so but it was a sure fire way to start up a good solid month of fighting at home and passive aggressive warfare.

 

With a self depreciating whine he knocks on the back door of the club. Before he has time to convince himself that no one is there and he should just go Iva throws the door open and stands there in all his purple spangly leotarded glory. He has on black leggings and glittery pastel pink leg warmers. Oh god.

 

“CURLY-BOY!” Iva squeals and grabs Sanji in close. Sanji considers biting off his own tongue as a form of suicide.

 

Sanji is dragged inside by his arm with the door slammed after him. He's quickly steered to the bar and dropped onto a bar stool.

 

“It's so good to see you, you never see me enough, cutie!” Iva declares loudly and flamboyantly as he pinches Sanji's cheek.

 

“AGH!” Sanji yelps and squirms away from him.

 

“Hee-haw, you never change curly-boy. What can I do for you then?” Iva smiles a lipstick heavy grin at him.

 

“I... wanted a little bit of inside information.” Sanji admits and Iva's smile grows a little wider.

 

“Aaah, you're hoping to find out the venue for the competition hmmm? You want to know what venues other than mine are participating, Zeff shouldn't have clued you into the fact that I was doing it.” Iva grins knowingly at him.

 

Sanji's brain catches up quickly. So Zeff knew that the Okama Way club was one of the venues and didn't tell him, perhaps he was respecting the confidentiality of the agreement. Okay...

 

“Something like that.” Sanji nods.

 

“Well, I'll tell you curly-boy, but only because you're so cute. Loguetown is first, Okama way is proud to be the second venue, the knockout rounds will also be here. The final venue is Shakky's rip-off bar.” Iva informs him with a pleased flourish towards his admittedly very nice venue, if one could ignore all the pink of course.

 

“Shakky huh? I haven't seen her since I was a kid, that's quite a way out of here.” Sanji muses thoughtfully. There's no way the band can just travel there, perform and come home, they'll have to find somewhere to stay.

 

“Mmm, yes, as I recall last time you saw Shakky you asked her to be your girlfriend. Hee-haw!” Iva laughs uproariously and slaps his knee in amusement.

 

“Why does everyone remember that?” Sanji whines, folding his arms and dropping them onto them onto the counter along with his head. He'd just been twelve and Shakky was so pretty, he'd always been an optimist about that sort of thing anyway. Or he had been at that age at least.

 

So, he supposes that now that he knows that he can start to head home. He wonders where Baby is and sincerely hopes that she's not circled back to find Zoro at his work again.

 

“What's on your mind curly-boy? And _don't_ say it's nothing, I can read you like an open book, something's eating at you. Tell me.” Iva says, prodding at Sanji's shoulder.

 

Sanji looks around the bar, there's no one else here but him and his eccentric godfather. Iva doesn't even seem to know that he's in the band so there's no way that he'd know about Zoro or Baby. But he was in Zoro's confidence, he shouldn't just go blabbing to the first person who asks him.

 

“I shouldn't say.” he says with a regretful shake of his head.

 

Iva glares at him through long false eyelashes and his purple lipsticked pout shows his disapproval clearly enough.

 

“Who am I going to tell? Your father?” Iva snorts and Sanji grins at that. Iva and Zeff have a about a tense and passive aggressive relationship as he and Iva do themselves. Admittedly Zeff and Iva's relationship is sort of friendly, in that... aggressive... mean... kind of way. Wow, no wonder Sanji's so messed up and equates sarcasm and insults with love. Ah well, Iva raises a good point he supposes. But still...

 

“It'll make you feel better.” Iva promises.

 

“I have a boyfriend. Sort of.” Sanji says quietly. The others in the band all know of course, they could hardly not after he'd grabbed Zoro and smooched him at the end of their last song. Thankfully the others had all agreed to keep it secret from the rest of the world and not plaster it on their twitter accounts and what not and inadvertently put Zoro in danger. But Iva doesn't know Zoro or Baby, he can't affect anything, right?

 

“What do you mean 'sort of' either you do or you don't.” the leotard wearing man questions.

 

“Well it's a secret, so we can't tell anyone. Our close friends know but they can't tell anyone either.” he explains a little more.

 

“Well, who's it a secret from then?” Iva asks, sounding confused.

 

“His girlfriend.” Sanji groans, placing his head on the cool bar surface. If Baby wasn't so evil he'd feel truly bad about stealing someone else's boyfriend, but Baby doesn't deserve him at all!

 

“But our friends don't know about his girlfriend so they don't understand why it has to be a secret and she can't find out and-” Sanji babbles as it all spills out of him.

 

“Stop right there curly-boy. You need to ditch this cheating, lying scumbag right away. You deserve better than that.” Iva says, pulling him upright and jabbing him in the chest.

 

“No, it's not like that. He's leaving her. Well, he's trying to make her leave him.” Sanji amends desperately, suddenly aware of how cliché that sounds.

 

“Look, it's... I don't really want to go into it, but it's a really bad relationship and he's scared of her. Hell, I'm scared of her, she's insane and evil.” He explains quietly.

 

He doesn't want to go all the way and explain just what Baby does to Zoro, even though Iva doesn't know him Sanji feels like that would just be too much of a violation of his trust and he can't live with that. Even so the look of skepticism fades from Iva's face to be replaced with concern.

 

“She's really bad?” Iva asks softly.

 

“Yeah, really _really_ bad. Just this morning she showed up at his work and kept screaming for him to come out, literally tearing up the place and trying to find him. He had to hide in the basement!” he exclaims, still angry from seeing that. Poor Zoro.

 

“And you're dating this guy?” the other man asks, tapping his foot on the barstool thoughtfully.

 

“Yeah, he's amazing.” Sanji replies and feels the big goofy grin spread over his face as his heart flutters warmly in his chest. He's getting a serious case of the warm fuzzies wherever Zoro is concerned, it's a little embarrassing actually.

 

“Be careful Sanji, be very careful.” Iva warns him, getting to his feet with a sigh.

 

“Zoro- ah. I mean- this guy... my boyfriend... he... he wouldn't hurt me.” Sanji amends trying to cover his slip up. Iva narrows his long lashed eyes at him but doesn't mention it.

 

“I don't mean him, but be careful with that too. Just, if this girl on his is really as crazy as you say, she's not going to be happy when she finds out about you. Crazy girlfriends aren't as bad as crazy exes, she could get worse and attack you too.” the man says seriously.

 

“Nah. She fucks him up because she knows she can get away with it, she's never done more than shout or cry at me.” he says shaking his head. Baby's learnt that she can do anything to Zoro and he won't fight back, she's hardly likely to do the same to him. And if she does freak out and slap him, well... he can take it. He won't give her the opportunity twice. It's her hurting Zoro that he's really worried about.

 

Sanji slides from his chair as well and follows Iva to the side door where he came in, no doubt Iva has a lot of work to do preparing for the competition. He pauses at the door and looks at his unconventional and annoying godfather.

 

“Hey Iva, thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.” Sanji nods in thanks as he leaves.

 

“Any time curly-boy! The boys and girls here would love to see your cute butt any time!” Iva yells ostentatiously and blows him an exaggerated kiss that has several people on the street staring at him with startled faces.

 

“Iva!” Sanji snarls but the old cross-dresser slams the door on him with his obnoxious laugh.

 

Red faced with embarrassment Sanji scuttles back to his car, hoping to be away from anyone who witnessed that ludicrous display as soon as possible. He guns the engine and hurtles back to his home town.

 

He walks through the door late at night and ditches his keys in the tray in the kitchen. He's missed dinner as he knew he would and had to have shitty drive through for dinner and damn near nothing makes him angrier than that. Luffy is sat at the kitchen counter playing with a butter knife and watching him, he hadn't actually seen him when he first came in.

 

“Do you want food or something?” Sanji asks with a sigh, though he doesn't know why he's bothering asking, Luffy's default state is wanting food.

 

“No.” Luffy answers. Huh, that's odd.

 

Sanji eyes him curiously, his body language is all weird and un-Luffy-like and he can't quite parse it.

 

“So Zoro's been writing some fucking awful songs lately.” Luffy begins conversationally.

 

“Zoro's songs are amazing, why would you ever think that-” Sanji snarls defensive of Zoro in an instant.

 

“I didn't say that they weren't good. They sound amazing, he's talented and the best. Didn't say he wasn't.” Luffy corrects, waving the butter knife in Sanji's face.

 

“Okay, then what?” Sanji frowns confused, Luffy's not talking right either. His voice is easily an octave deeper than he's used to and cursing is a new thing for him. Is he drunk? He doesn't look it. 

 

“I mean they're fucking awful. They're full of pain and agony and they weren't before. That horror song and the new one he's been working on, comparing love to cancer? That's not okay!” Luffy snarls and slams the knife point down into the work surface and it easily embeds a couple of centimetres in. Sanji feels his eyes go wide, that's a butter knife and the work surface is fucking marble on hardwood. How the fuck did he even-

 

Luffy clears the space between the two of them, vaulting the counter and slamming Sanji into the fridge, a hand fisted in his collar and shoving him clear off of the floor despite his lack of height in comparison to Sanji. Sanji shrieks in shock and shoves his hands against Luffy's arm to stop himself from getting accidentally strangled.

 

“The FUCK?!” He yelps, struggling in Luffy's grip.

 

“He wasn't writing songs like that before you got here, what did you DO to him?!” Luffy snarls up at him furiously.

 

“I didn't do shit to him! From what I understand Zoro wasn't writing much of anything anymore before I got here!” Sanji retorts and kicks at Luffy.

 

“What makes you think it's me he's writing those depressing songs about anyway?” Sanji shouts.

 

“Why... but you two are together and he's writing about love and...” Luffy frowns, his grip going slack. Sanji shoves him back and lands on his feet, released from Luffy's grip.

 

“I'm not the only person he's ever dated and it's not me that he loved for all those years, is it? What makes you think he's writing _that_ about me?” Sanji snaps. He doesn't even know if Zoro loves him at all. Likes him a lot sure, wants to bone him yeah, but love? He's in the dark about Zoro's feelings there.

 

“But... Baby was ages ago, and he must be over her now if he's with you...” Luffy frowns at Sanji, like Sanji could be tricking him.

 

“Hah. That's really fucking funny. I don't know whether to laugh or cry about that. He's not over her you moron, I'm not the one hurting him.” Sanji snaps, scowling at Luffy.

 

“You're... not?” the black haired kid asks, looking upset.

 

“But... they're not together anymore, he never even sees her.” Luffy mumbles, not even knowing how wrong he is.

 

“Sanji, I'm sorry I thought that-” Luffy amends, looking upset at having scared a friend and thought of him as an enemy.

 

“No man, I get it. You thought Zoro was being hurt and you wanted to protect him. I GET that, believe me.” Sanji mutters angrily. He can't believe that Luffy chooses now of all times to be perceptive. He couldn't have been like this when Baby was beating the life out of Zoro? He couldn't have cottoned on _then_?

 

“I never want to hurt Zoro. I love him.” he says quietly and stands up straight to adjust his shirt.

 

“Sanji...” Luffy says softly, catching the back of his shirt.

 

“You don't think Zoro loves you?” Luffy asks, soft and quiet.

 

Sanji turns then and looks at his friend. For all the sudden violence he just committed it was for a cause that Sanji can totally get behind. He really wishes he could spill his guts about Baby to Luffy because he's pretty damn certain that Luffy might just murder her when he finds out what she's done, but he's got Zoro's trust and he won't break it. No matter how much he wants to.

 

Luffy is looking up at him with big brown concerned eyes and he's looking at Sanji for an answer to that question.

 

“I don't know.” Sanji answers honestly.

 

“I hope so. I really do, or else I'm going to be the one getting their heart broken here.” he adds with a shrug. There's a kind of fatal inevitability here. Zoro needs him but he loves Zoro, the question remains, will Zoro still want him when he no longer needs him? Sanji can only wait and see, along with some heavy duty pleading with the universe.

 

“Sanji...” Luffy says soft and concerned. Sanji shakes his head and walks off. He really hadn't needed this at the end of his day, right now all he wants to do is to fall onto his bed and sleep.

 

After the longest ever trek up to the top floor he falls down on his bed, face up and groans. He should find Nami and tell her about the top secret information he's found out. He really should. Instead he just lays there sprawled out and useless.

 

“Hey, you're back.” Zoro's voice is soft and surprised, he sounds pleased.

 

“I am.” Sanji agrees quietly, his eyes shut.

 

His bed dips as Zoro's knee comes onto it and he opens his eyes to Zoro hovering over him, his hands bracketing Sanji in on both sides of his head. Zoro looking down at him with that fucking cut over his eye that is slowly becoming a scar and Sanji realises that he's right, that he's so fucking wrecked for Zoro that all he's got left is hope that this doesn't ruin him. He's desperately and hopelessly in love with him without even the slightest shred of self preservation and all he can do is lean up and kiss him.

 

He tries to shove all of his feelings into it, to show Zoro just how much he adores him. If he's a note then Zoro is the harmony to his frequency. Zoro fills in all of the places where Sanji is lacking and in turn he inspires Zoro to write amazing magic. Zoro's even able to make him write, something he's never been able to do alone or with anyone else.

 

Sanji leans up and presses a kiss to the bit where the corner of Zoro's jaw and the side of his neck meet, he can feel the slow steady beat of Zoro's pulse against his lips and he just sighs against his skin there. He really... really hopes that Zoro doesn't go back to Baby. He knows that Zoro doesn't want to but an entire adolescence of being manipulated can probably fuck up any man's sense of reasoning. But he's sold himself now, ever since Zoro first spilled his secret Sanji's life hasn't quite been his own. All he can do right now is recognise that he's holding himself open for Zoro and hoping against hope that Zoro won't reach into his chest and pull his heart out.

 

“Missed you. Dinner sucked without you.” Zoro says quietly into Sanji's hair, making him laugh.

 

“Missed you too, idiot.” Sanji answers with a smile.


	14. Chapter 14

"So we've only got two more songs and then the album's done. So Luffy says anyway, he might change his mind," Zoro explains as he hauls a massive basket of his and Sanji's clean laundry up the stairs, Sanji had taken it up the first half and Zoro was taking it up the second. This sort of thing is a problem when you live on the top floor.

"How long do they take to actually make though, I mean physically speaking? Does someone else burn them or...?" Sanji frowns, he really doesn't know anything about creating an album.

"Well- AH!" Zoro jumps and interrupts himself mid-sentence.

Sanji tilts his head and hears the soft sound of a phone vibrating, a slight light shines through the back pocket in Zoro's jeans. However, the basket of laundry is way too big for him to hold one handed and he's not got a real opportunity to answer it.

"I'll get that for you, shall I?" Sanji smirks, reaching his hand into Zoro's back pocket and pulling the phone out and maybe squeezing Zoro's ass a little as he does it.

"Pervert," Zoro snorts, climbing the steps.

Sanji grins. He only kissed Zoro in front of the others that morning but it's nice not to have to hide everything he feels about the other man now. Thankfully the others agreed to keep their change in relationship quiet for the moment, Zoro wants Baby to break up with him, not murder him which if she found out about them on twitter she just might.

Sanji follows Zoro up the stairs and looks at the screen.

"It just says BB, there's no name." Sanji frowns, he wonders if it's a telemarketer or something.

"Oh SHIT." Zoro swears and sprints up the last few steps and drops the basket to the floor.

"BB: Baby. Throw it here." Zoro calls and Sanji does so, unable to refuse Zoro anything when he looks at him as urgently and desperately as he just did. Zoro catches the phone and answers it instantly.

"Hi! Sorry I was-" Zoro starts and is then cut off. Sanji openly watches as Zoro freezes to the spot and the muscles of his jaw tighten. He can't hear what Baby is saying this time but he can hear her tone of voice even from the distance he's at. He climbs the rest of the stairs until he's at the same level as Zoro.

Zoro squeezes his eyes shut and frowns, his hand comes up to rub the back of his own neck anxiously.

"Come over? Yeah I can... sure. Give me half an hour and I'll-" Zoro starts. Baby's voice snaps angrily at him through the phone and Sanji watches Zoro flinch.

"Okay, or twenty, I can... uh..." Zoro pulls the phone from his ear and Sanji can see that she hung up on him. Zoro scowls and picks up the laundry again, his phone still in hand and jogs up the last flight of stairs and into his bedroom. He drops the laundry and reaches under his bed to pull out an elderly looking laptop. He drops onto his bed and turns it on, his foot jigging nervously as he does so.

Sanji keeps his mouth shut. He doesn't want Zoro to go but the other man has to decide that for himself. Instead he stands and watches as Zoro types something onto the laptop. The guitarist's eyes scan the screen for a few moments and after some further clicking he reads something for a minute.

"Fuck." Zoro hisses and falls backwards onto his bed.

Sanji walks over to the bed and looks at the laptop. On screen is an article published just that day, it talks about the competition and how their band is confirmed to be competing; something that Zoro had led Baby to believe wouldn't be happening. Further down the article the author wonders why Baby is competing at all as she, unlike the other entrants, is neither a supernova herself nor has one in her band.

"She's going to be livid. She's either going to want to screw my brains out to make herself feel better or punch my lights out to make me feel worse. I don't want either. But shit... she's expecting me now." Zoro groans, his hands covering his face.

"Do you always do this? Look up what's going on in her life before you go see her?" Sanji frowns, picking up the laptop and putting it on Zoro's bedside table.

"I'd be dumb not to, I need to know what I'm walking in on." Zoro answers, looking up at Sanji like it's obvious.

"That's not normal is it?" the man says quietly, glancing down.

"No, you shouldn't have to worry about something like that." Sanji says flatly and drops himself onto the bed beside Zoro. He folds his arms over his stomach and laces his fingers together.

"Will you promise me something?" Sanji asks softly, looking over at Zoro.

"I'm not going to go and see her." Zoro grumbles towards the ceiling.

"I wasn't actually going to say that." Sanji points out, rolling onto his side to look at Zoro.

"Oh, what then?" the other man says in surprise, leaning up on his elbow to look down at Sanji.

"If... if this is gonna work... you've got to promise to tell me if I do or say anything that makes you think of her or, I don't know, makes you react like this. I don't want you to think about me like you think about her. Promise me?" Sanji pleads, looking up at Zoro.

"You're not her you'd never-" Zoro frowns, shaking his head.

"Then it won't be hard to promise me that will it?" Sanji shoots back.

Zoro's frown softens and he leans over to brush Sanji's hair out of his eyes. The blonde protests and fusses with his hair until it's back in place.

"I promise. It's never gonna happen but... I promise." Zoro says quietly and leans down to kiss Sanji. Sanji's heart flutters at the small kiss and he can't help but reach up just to touch Zoro's jaw to hold him there a little longer, he feels Zoro's earrings clink lightly on his fingers.

"So, you're really not going then?" He asks, honestly he's a little surprised and incredibly relieved. He hadn't thought that Zoro would be able to keep his resolve to leave her so soon.

"She's going to be insanely angry. The last time I stood her up was entirely by accident, the others took me out without me knowing about it in advance so I ended up not being able to go. She got me in the ribs so hard it felt like I had a stitch for a week." Zoro says softly and Sanji can see from how tense he is that he's really worried.

Sanji sits up and runs his hand up and down Zoro's back soothingly, he can feel how the other man's muscles are all bunched up and tense. He runs his fingers over them through Zoro's shirt, trying to get them to relax a little. He doesn't really know what to say. He doesn't want to tell Zoro to go because if he does then he'll just be in the same position as before, besides, if Zoro is right and she'll either fuck him or fuck him up... he doesn't want either of those things to happen, selfish though it might be.

"I can stay here with you... while you wait it out, I mean." He offers, not knowing if it'll help or not.

"If it makes you feel better." Zoro says with an indifferent shrug and Sanji smirks, knowing that Zoro wants him to stay but is not quite able to ask him to do so.

"I think I will." He muses and rubs a tense knot of muscle underneath Zoro's shoulder blade, making the other man groan in pleasure.

"Hope you don't mind this, I need to do something with my hands when I'm nervous." Sanji grins, giving Zoro another opportunity to take his help without having to admit it. .

"Well, if it helps you feel better, sure." Zoro manages before dropping his head onto the bed and starting to melt under Sanji's fingers.

"I've got a plan for tomorrow by the way." Sanji says softly, running his fingers into Zoro's neck and rubbing at the muscle there.

"Hm?" Zoro groans, his face in his arm.

"I know a few venues that match the profile of where the competition might be held. I know they're trying to keep it under wraps at the moment until right before but I know what they're looking for. I can go ask around. There's a venue about half a day's drive from here, someone I know owns it. He'll tell me if he knows something." Sanji explains, though he must admit to himself that he's not looking forward to that visit.

"That's... a really good idea. A heads up would be a great help." Zoro agrees and Sanji rubs his other hand over Zoro's lower back, pleased to have distracted Zoro's mind a little.

Sanji lets his mouth run as he wanders over the slowly relaxing muscles of Zoro's back, he talks about anything and everything except Baby, just to distract Zoro.

"I mean, it's not like I miss the Baratie or anything. It was home and my old man's dream, I love the place. And I did like the late start to the day, being able to roll out of bed around midday was pretty sweet, I could have done without all the really late nights though. But I have to say-" He cuts himself off as Zoro's phone rings on the bedspread by Zoro's shoulder and he feels Zoro's entire body flinch, undoing all of his hard work at relaxing him.

The two of them fall silent and look at the ringing phone as if it might grow teeth and bite them. It's well past the time when Zoro was supposed to be at Baby's. Sure enough the phone screen reads BB.

"Can I...?" He asks, looking at Zoro.

"Anyone but me." Zoro mutters, cringing. Sanji picks up the phone and holds it to his ear, giving Zoro a sly wink as he does so, the other man watches him with interest.

"Hello, Zoro's phone." Sanji says, picking up. He then pulls the phone a little way from his head and fakes shouting off into the distance.

"Oi, Zoro! You left your phone in the kitchen!" He yells. He grins as he hears the call disconnect.

"Oops." He says innocently and passes the phone back.

"Well that'll make her back off for a bit." Zoro smiles and it's so hesitant and not quite believing that things can be going okay that... that Sanji just wants to kiss him all over again. So he does, because he can now.

"Wanna go watch one of your shitty horror movies?" Sanji suggests, wanting to get his mind off of her.

"If you think you can manage to not cry." Zoro challenges him.

"You're confusing me with Usopp." Sanji insists as he gets up off of the bed. Zoro does the same and Sanji notices that he doesn't pick his phone up to take it with him.

"Eugh, I hope not." Zoro grumbles and heads out of the room. Sanji follows him and shuts Zoro's door behind him. For tonight at least he's won against Baby.

Sanji's feeling reasonably okay the next morning despite his all-night horror movie marathon and the subsequent sleepless night after Zoro made him watch some abomination of film called "Eight Legged Freaks". He's blaming the sleepiness on the phantom itching over his skin from phantom spiders not, as Zoro asserted, that he was a wimpy little girl.

He detours through the Baratie to say hi to Zeff first and remind him to eat right, then he heads over to Zoro's coffee shop for a quick caffeine shot, after that he's got plans to go to the Okama Way club. It's one Sanji hates frequenting but it's a big enough venue and has two stages so it's a viable candidate.

His plan is swiftly derailed when he walks into Zoro's coffee shop to see Baby standing in the middle of the room screaming.

"I KNOW he's here! Stop LYING!" She shrieks at the poor bastard behind the counter who has the dubious fortune of not being Zoro.

"He's not here!" The guy squeaks in terror.

Sanji knows for a fact that Zoro is there as he saw him leave for work that morning.

"What are you doing here Baby?" Sanji questions, as if he doesn't know. She's there to punish Zoro for ignoring her last night and she's clearly already in a fierce rage. She looks at him startled for a second before turning her attention back to the hapless barista.

"SEE! He must be here if HE'S here! He's here for Zoro, so WHERE is he!?" Baby snarls at the guy.

"Uhm. Not to interrupt but I'm here for coffee. Why are you here?" Sanji cuts in again, this time moving between Baby and the counter.

"Liar! You're lying!" She accuses him rather redundantly and points a sharply manicured finger in Sanji's face.

"GET OUT HERE ZORO!" She yells, completely uncaring about the staring cafe patrons. Quick as anything she leaps the counter in a blur of short dress and flowing black hair and lands on the other side. She turns and looks under the counters as if expecting Zoro to be crouching behind them. From her thwarted expression Sanji can only guess that Zoro is not, in fact, hiding behind them.

"You can't be back here! You need to leave!" The guy behind the counter yelps, not being especially authoritative.

"AH HAH!" She declares and bends down to yank at something. Sanji comes closer to the counter and sees Baby hauling on a cellar door with all her might, it's not budging though.

"That... doesn't look like it opens. He's really not here Baby, honest, he's back home." Sanji lies shamelessly.

Baby rounds on him, breathless and angry. Some part of Sanji recognises that the glint in her eye is dangerous and he wonders what tells she has that Zoro is attuned to. Does the tilt of her head right now or the wideness of her eyes mean that she's going to attack him, would Zoro already be trying to pacify her or back away? He wonders where Zoro is actually hiding and his eyes fall onto the cellar door that Baby is trying to wrench open and wonders if Zoro is hiding in the dark down there.

"Why is his bike here then, hm?" She demands of him.

"I drove him home last time he had a shift, we didn't take the bike with us. Baby, people are staring. He's not here." Sanji says with forced gentleness, he's starting to worry if she's all there or not.

Baby straightens up and looks around the room, wild eyed, as if having just noticed the customers for the first time. She flicks her angry gaze around them, some pretend that she's not there and studiously ignore the whole thing whilst others gape openly at her. Her face reddens as someone takes a picture of her on their phone and she sprints from the cafe, red faced and furious.

"I'm sorry about that everyone." The guy behind the counter apologises.

Sanji looks out of the glass windows and sees Baby's car screech off down the road.

"She's gone." He notes quietly.

"Zoro, she's left. Come out." The guy behind the counter says. Sanji looks at his name tag and sees that it reads "Johnny", Sanji remembers Zoro mentioning him before. He always seemed boundlessly incompetent, Zoro having to always go in to fix his mistakes. But... well, Sanji can place a fair bet that Zoro was not in fact coming here, and was instead going to see the girl who just left in a rage.

The cellar door behind the counter clicks and a lock is slid back and slowly, cautiously, the door opens. Zoro peeks through the crack and upon not seeing Baby there, emerges fully, dusting himself off.

"Hiding from a girl like that, ought to be ashamed." Sanji catches one patron saying. He whirls around angrily, trying to spot who it was.

"She's just a girl, what could she have done to him? Look how strong that guy looks." Someone else says. Sanji zeros his gaze in on them. The two are sharing a table and looking at Zoro disparagingly.

Sanji feels how tightly he's gritting his teeth. These fucking bastards know nothing of Zoro's situation, of how she tortures him. They're just assuming that a guy like Zoro couldn't ever be hurt by someone female, by someone who looks like Baby.

"He probably started it." The guy adds, sending a ripple of dangerous rage running up Sanji's spine.

Sanji doesn't realise that he's started moving towards the other guy until there's a fist in the back of his shirt. He turns to see Zoro holding him back by his shirt.

"Don't. It's nothing I've not heard before, I'm fine." He says softly, just for him to hear.

All of the fight goes out of Sanji and when he turns to Zoro he sees that the other man's hands are shaking slightly. Zoro seems to notice too and presses them firmly against the work surface to suppress it.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Zoro asks, with a smile that seems to Sanji to be too bright and too brittle to be real. Fuck, he hates seeing Zoro like this.

"I wanted to see you, I was heading to the venue to check it out and I thought I'd visit. I heard the coffee is good and the baristas are cute." He smirks at Zoro.

"Shut up idiot." Zoro mutters, his face reddening ever so slightly.

"I thought I'd come see you and get a drink before my long drive today." Sanji adds with a smile and Zoro's cute red blush.

"I'm sure you'll like what I give you." Zoro nods, looking like he's rolling through a mental list of drinks recipes, entirely oblivious to quite what he just said.

"I'm sure I will." Sanji grins and flashes a wink at Zoro, making his entire face redden so he contrasts with his own hair.

"OH!" Johnny exclaims at Zoro's side, looking right at Sanji like he hadn't noticed him before.

"This is the hot blonde that you've been-OW!" Jonny yelps and Sanji suspects very strongly that Zoro just kicked him under the counter.

"Uh, I mean, hi. I am just meeting you and hearing about you now for the first time." Johnny amends, warily holding a hand out to Sanji.

"Hi. I'm Sanji." Sanji snickers and shakes the guy's hand whilst Zoro skulks off muttering to himself as he makes Sanji a drink.

Sanji watches his new boyfriend for a moment. And... Zoro is his boyfriend right? They kissed and they'd been talking about being together and... but he was still with Baby. So what did that make him? The home wrecker? Admittedly the home that was Zoro and Baby's relationship ought to be condemned and torn down for the health of everyone involved and this metaphor is completely getting away from Sanji now. He shakes his head to dislodge that stupid line of thought but knows all too well that it won't go away for long.

"How often does that happen?" Sanji asks Johnny quietly, shooting the other barista a sideways glance as he watches Zoro do something complex looking with the espresso machine.

"Uh, never. Zoro never talks about you. Ever. Nope." Johnny answers sharply and quietly, trying to make sure that Zoro doesn't hear him.

"Not that, although that's interesting too. I mean Baby coming in like that." Sanji clarifies as quietly as he can. Zoro is rifling through some syrups and he doesn't have much time to get this answer out of Zoro's co-worker.

"Oh," Johnny says in surprise, looking at Sanji.

"Probably once or twice a month, maybe. Though some months we don't see her at all, but I guess she tours. She's not usually like that though, Zoro usually either rushes out with her to stop her screaming at him in here or else he hides. She's never flipped out like that looking for him though." Johnny answers quickly and snaps a smile on his face when Zoro turns back around to them with Sanji's finished drink in hand.

Zoro looks suspiciously at the two of them as he hands Sanji his drink.

"So, hot blonde, huh?" He grins wolfishly at Zoro.

"UGH. It's on the house, just go you fucking loser." Zoro groans and shoves him away.

"Later!" Sanji calls over his shoulder with a laugh. He laughs as he sees Zoro smack Johnny on the arm as he looks through the big glass windows of the shop. His small drops though when he's walked out of view of the cafe. Baby is escalating then. And there's no denying that Zoro seemed genuinely scared too. The vision of Zoro's shaking hands flashes in Sanji's mind and he knows he's not going to be able to forget them. How much worse is this going to get?

He doesn't have any answers for himself so he keeps swirling around the same problem over and over again. Zoro's coffee is actually perfect for him, a beautiful deep dark flavour with a shot of sweetness hidden underneath it all. Not unlike Zoro himself. Oh hell, did he really just think that? Sanji slaps his forehead. Zoro's making him go all mushy now, at least he didn't say it out loud to the other man.

He hops into his car outside the back of Zoro's work and starts his drive to the Okama Way club, it's further than he'd like to go but he's on a mission. It's mid afternoon by the time he pulls up outside it. He gets out of his car, glad to stretch his legs and he tosses his long since empty coffee cup in the bin and steels himself to enter the club.

The lights are off right now because it's the afternoon and it'll be shut, however Sanji knows all too well that in the night the front of the building lights up in garish pink and blue with a neon image of its owner Iva kicking his leg as he sprawls across the name of the club. He loathes this place and everyone in it.

Going around the edge of the building and into the alleyway at the back it's not long before Sanji encounters the door, it's the staff entrance and he's pretty sure that someone will be in. In fact he knows just who will be in. Ivankov, or just Iva.

Sanji and Zeff have an odd relationship, they both like to piss each other off. Iva has known Sanji since he was small and Zeff first was able to get into the club owning business. Sanji being the sensible human being that he is took an instant dislike to Ivankov and his weird associates, Zeff found this hilarious and retrospectively made Iva his godfather. Sanji thought this was unfair for several reasons. Firstly that he had no other godparents as neither of them were religious, (though Zeff had sent him to a catholic school as a kid as another form of passive aggressive paternity) and secondly that it was IVA! Every so often Zeff would punish him by insisting that he visit his 'poor godfather', Sanji would have to do so but it was a sure fire way to start up a good solid month of fighting at home and passive aggressive warfare.

With a self depreciating whine he knocks on the back door of the club. Before he has time to convince himself that no one is there and he should just go Iva throws the door open and stands there in all his purple spangly leotarded glory. He has on black leggings and glittery pastel pink leg warmers. Oh god.

"CURLY-BOY!" Iva squeals and grabs Sanji in close. Sanji considers biting off his own tongue as a form of suicide.

Sanji is dragged inside by his arm with the door slammed after him. He's quickly steered to the bar and dropped onto a bar stool.

"It's so good to see you, you never see me enough, cutie!" Iva declares loudly and flamboyantly as he pinches Sanji's cheek.

"AGH!" Sanji yelps and squirms away from him.

"Hee-haw, you never change curly-boy. What can I do for you then?" Iva smiles a lipstick heavy grin at him.

"I... wanted a little bit of inside information." Sanji admits and Iva's smile grows a little wider.

"Aaah, you're hoping to find out the venue for the competition hmmm? You want to know what venues other than mine are participating, Zeff shouldn't have clued you into the fact that I was doing it." Iva grins knowingly at him.

Sanji's brain catches up quickly. So Zeff knew that the Okama Way club was one of the venues and didn't tell him, perhaps he was respecting the confidentiality of the agreement. Okay...

"Something like that." Sanji nods.

"Well, I'll tell you curly-boy, but only because you're so cute. Loguetown is first, Okama way is proud to be the second venue, the knockout rounds will also be here. The final venue is Shakky's rip-off bar." Iva informs him with a pleased flourish towards his admittedly very nice venue, if one could ignore all the pink of course.

"Shakky huh? I haven't seen her since I was a kid, that's quite a way out of here." Sanji muses thoughtfully. There's no way the band can just travel there, perform and come home, they'll have to find somewhere to stay.

"Mmm, yes, as I recall last time you saw Shakky you asked her to be your girlfriend. Hee-haw!" Iva laughs uproariously and slaps his knee in amusement.

"Why does everyone remember that?" Sanji whines, folding his arms and dropping them onto them onto the counter along with his head. He'd just been twelve and Shakky was so pretty, he'd always been an optimist about that sort of thing anyway. Or he had been at that age at least.

So, he supposes that now that he knows that he can start to head home. He wonders where Baby is and sincerely hopes that she's not circled back to find Zoro at his work again.

"What's on your mind curly-boy? And don't say it's nothing, I can read you like an open book, something's eating at you. Tell me." Iva says, prodding at Sanji's shoulder.

Sanji looks around the bar, there's no one else here but him and his eccentric godfather. Iva doesn't even seem to know that he's in the band so there's no way that he'd know about Zoro or Baby. But he was in Zoro's confidence, he shouldn't just go blabbing to the first person who asks him.

"I shouldn't say." he says with a regretful shake of his head.

Iva glares at him through long false eyelashes and his purple lipsticked pout shows his disapproval clearly enough.

"Who am I going to tell? Your father?" Iva snorts and Sanji grins at that. Iva and Zeff have a about a tense and passive aggressive relationship as he and Iva do themselves. Admittedly Zeff and Iva's relationship is sort of friendly, in that... aggressive... mean... kind of way. Wow, no wonder Sanji's so messed up and equates sarcasm and insults with love. Ah well, Iva raises a good point he supposes. But still...

"It'll make you feel better." Iva promises.

"I have a boyfriend. Sort of." Sanji says quietly. The others in the band all know of course, they could hardly not after he'd grabbed Zoro and smooched him at the end of their last song. Thankfully the others had all agreed to keep it secret from the rest of the world and not plaster it on their twitter accounts and what not and inadvertently put Zoro in danger. But Iva doesn't know Zoro or Baby, he can't affect anything, right?

"What do you mean 'sort of' either you do or you don't." the leotard wearing man questions.

"Well it's a secret, so we can't tell anyone. Our close friends know but they can't tell anyone either." he explains a little more.

"Well, who's it a secret from then?" Iva asks, sounding confused.

"His girlfriend." Sanji groans, placing his head on the cool bar surface. If Baby wasn't so evil he'd feel truly bad about stealing someone else's boyfriend, but Baby doesn't deserve him at all!

"But our friends don't know about his girlfriend so they don't understand why it has to be a secret and she can't find out and-" Sanji babbles as it all spills out of him.

"Stop right there curly-boy. You need to ditch this cheating, lying scumbag right away. You deserve better than that." Iva says, pulling him upright and jabbing him in the chest.

"No, it's not like that. He's leaving her. Well, he's trying to make her leave him." Sanji amends desperately, suddenly aware of how cliché that sounds.

"Look, it's... I don't really want to go into it, but it's a really bad relationship and he's scared of her. Hell, I'm scared of her, she's insane and evil." He explains quietly.

He doesn't want to go all the way and explain just what Baby does to Zoro, even though Iva doesn't know him Sanji feels like that would just be too much of a violation of his trust and he can't live with that. Even so the look of skepticism fades from Iva's face to be replaced with concern.

"She's really bad?" Iva asks softly.

"Yeah, really really bad. Just this morning she showed up at his work and kept screaming for him to come out, literally tearing up the place and trying to find him. He had to hide in the basement!" he exclaims, still angry from seeing that. Poor Zoro.

"And you're dating this guy?" the other man asks, tapping his foot on the barstool thoughtfully.

"Yeah, he's amazing." Sanji replies and feels the big goofy grin spread over his face as his heart flutters warmly in his chest. He's getting a serious case of the warm fuzzies wherever Zoro is concerned, it's a little embarrassing actually.

"Be careful Sanji, be very careful." Iva warns him, getting to his feet with a sigh.

"Zoro- ah. I mean- this guy... my boyfriend... he... he wouldn't hurt me." Sanji amends trying to cover his slip up. Iva narrows his long lashed eyes at him but doesn't mention it.

"I don't mean him, but be careful with that too. Just, if this girl on his is really as crazy as you say, she's not going to be happy when she finds out about you. Crazy girlfriends aren't as bad as crazy exes, she could get worse and attack you too." the man says seriously.

"Nah. She fucks him up because she knows she can get away with it, she's never done more than shout or cry at me." he says shaking his head. Baby's learnt that she can do anything to Zoro and he won't fight back, she's hardly likely to do the same to him. And if she does freak out and slap him, well... he can take it. He won't give her the opportunity twice. It's her hurting Zoro that he's really worried about.

Sanji slides from his chair as well and follows Iva to the side door where he came in, no doubt Iva has a lot of work to do preparing for the competition. He pauses at the door and looks at his unconventional and annoying godfather.

"Hey Iva, thanks for the advice. I appreciate it." Sanji nods in thanks as he leaves.

"Any time curly-boy! The boys and girls here would love to see your cute butt any time!" Iva yells ostentatiously and blows him an exaggerated kiss that has several people on the street staring at him with startled faces.

"Iva!" Sanji snarls but the old cross-dresser slams the door on him with his obnoxious laugh.

Red faced with embarrassment Sanji scuttles back to his car, hoping to be away from anyone who witnessed that ludicrous display as soon as possible. He guns the engine and hurtles back to his home town.

He walks through the door late at night and ditches his keys in the tray in the kitchen. He's missed dinner as he knew he would and had to have shitty drive through for dinner and damn near nothing makes him angrier than that. Luffy is sat at the kitchen counter playing with a butter knife and watching him, he hadn't actually seen him when he first came in.

"Do you want food or something?" Sanji asks with a sigh, though he doesn't know why he's bothering asking, Luffy's default state is wanting food.

"No." Luffy answers. Huh, that's odd.

Sanji eyes him curiously, his body language is all weird and un-Luffy-like and he can't quite parse it.

"So Zoro's been writing some fucking awful songs lately." Luffy begins conversationally.

"Zoro's songs are amazing, why would you ever think that-" Sanji snarls defensive of Zoro in an instant.

"I didn't say that they weren't good. They sound amazing, he's talented and the best. Didn't say he wasn't." Luffy corrects, waving the butter knife in Sanji's face.

"Okay, then what?" Sanji frowns confused, Luffy's not talking right either. His voice is easily an octave deeper than he's used to and cursing is a new thing for him. Is he drunk? He doesn't look it.

"I mean they're fucking awful. They're full of pain and agony and they weren't before. That horror song and the new one he's been working on, comparing love to cancer? That's not okay!" Luffy snarls and slams the knife point down into the work surface and it easily embeds a couple of centimetres in. Sanji feels his eyes go wide, that's a butter knife and the work surface is fucking marble on hardwood. How the fuck did he even-

Luffy clears the space between the two of them, vaulting the counter and slamming Sanji into the fridge, a hand fisted in his collar and shoving him clear off of the floor despite his lack of height in comparison to Sanji. Sanji shrieks in shock and shoves his hands against Luffy's arm to stop himself from getting accidentally strangled.

"The FUCK?!" He yelps, struggling in Luffy's grip.

"He wasn't writing songs like that before you got here, what did you DO to him?!" Luffy snarls up at him furiously.

"I didn't do shit to him! From what I understand Zoro wasn't writing much of anything anymore before I got here!" Sanji retorts and kicks at Luffy.

"What makes you think it's me he's writing those depressing songs about anyway?" Sanji shouts.

"Why... but you two are together and he's writing about love and..." Luffy frowns, his grip going slack. Sanji shoves him back and lands on his feet, released from Luffy's grip.

"I'm not the only person he's ever dated and it's not me that he loved for all those years, is it? What makes you think he's writing that about me?" Sanji snaps. He doesn't even know if Zoro loves him at all. Likes him a lot sure, wants to bone him yeah, but love? He's in the dark about Zoro's feelings there.

"But... Baby was ages ago, and he must be over her now if he's with you..." Luffy frowns at Sanji, like Sanji could be tricking him.

"Hah. That's really fucking funny. I don't know whether to laugh or cry about that. He's not over her you moron, I'm not the one hurting him." Sanji snaps, scowling at Luffy.

"You're... not?" the black haired kid asks, looking upset.

"But... they're not together anymore, he never even sees her." Luffy mumbles, not even knowing how wrong he is.

"Sanji, I'm sorry I thought that-" Luffy amends, looking upset at having scared a friend and thought of him as an enemy.

"No man, I get it. You thought Zoro was being hurt and you wanted to protect him. I GET that, believe me." Sanji mutters angrily. He can't believe that Luffy chooses now of all times to be perceptive. He couldn't have been like this when Baby was beating the life out of Zoro? He couldn't have cottoned on then?

"I never want to hurt Zoro. I love him." he says quietly and stands up straight to adjust his shirt.

"Sanji..." Luffy says softly, catching the back of his shirt.

"You don't think Zoro loves you?" Luffy asks, soft and quiet.

Sanji turns then and looks at his friend. For all the sudden violence he just committed it was for a cause that Sanji can totally get behind. He really wishes he could spill his guts about Baby to Luffy because he's pretty damn certain that Luffy might just murder her when he finds out what she's done, but he's got Zoro's trust and he won't break it. No matter how much he wants to.

Luffy is looking up at him with big brown concerned eyes and he's looking at Sanji for an answer to that question.

"I don't know." Sanji answers honestly.

"I hope so. I really do, or else I'm going to be the one getting their heart broken here." he adds with a shrug. There's a kind of fatal inevitability here. Zoro needs him but he loves Zoro, the question remains, will Zoro still want him when he no longer needs him? Sanji can only wait and see, along with some heavy duty pleading with the universe.

"Sanji..." Luffy says soft and concerned. Sanji shakes his head and walks off. He really hadn't needed this at the end of his day, right now all he wants to do is to fall onto his bed and sleep.

After the longest ever trek up to the top floor he falls down on his bed, face up and groans. He should find Nami and tell her about the top secret information he's found out. He really should. Instead he just lays there sprawled out and useless.

"Hey, you're back." Zoro's voice is soft and surprised, he sounds pleased.

"I am." Sanji agrees quietly, his eyes shut.

His bed dips as Zoro's knee comes onto it and he opens his eyes to Zoro hovering over him, his hands bracketing Sanji in on both sides of his head. Zoro looking down at him with that fucking cut over his eye that is slowly becoming a scar and Sanji realises that he's right, that he's so fucking wrecked for Zoro that all he's got left is hope that this doesn't ruin him. He's desperately and hopelessly in love with him without even the slightest shred of self preservation and all he can do is lean up and kiss him.

He tries to shove all of his feelings into it, to show Zoro just how much he adores him. If he's a note then Zoro is the harmony to his frequency. Zoro fills in all of the places where Sanji is lacking and in turn he inspires Zoro to write amazing magic. Zoro's even able to make him write, something he's never been able to do alone or with anyone else.

Sanji leans up and presses a kiss to the bit where the corner of Zoro's jaw and the side of his neck meet, he can feel the slow steady beat of Zoro's pulse against his lips and he just sighs against his skin there. He really... really hopes that Zoro doesn't go back to Baby. He knows that Zoro doesn't want to but an entire adolescence of being manipulated can probably fuck up any man's sense of reasoning. But he's sold himself now, ever since Zoro first spilled his secret Sanji's life hasn't quite been his own. All he can do right now is recognise that he's holding himself open for Zoro and hoping against hope that Zoro won't reach into his chest and pull his heart out.

"Missed you. Dinner sucked without you." Zoro says quietly into Sanji's hair, making him laugh.

"Missed you too, idiot." Sanji answers with a smile.


	15. Chapter 15

Nami had been incredibly pleased at his reconnaissance mission and has planned out where they're going along with Luffy and Usopp's help. The keyboard player seems to be quite knowledgeable but from Sanji's estimation it seems to be that he's trying to put an awful lot of people in what Sanji can only assume is the van and there seem to be nights sleeping in it too. As much as he's cool with the idea of being sprawled over Zoro's lovely body on the back seat of a vehicle in theory in practice it'll probably be more than a little uncomfortable.

Usopp assures him that it'll be fine and that they'll take a car or two with them as well, Sanji's own and Robin's cars have been volunteered by Nami. Of course he can't turn down his perfect Nami-swan, can he? Of course not. Nami is in the kitchen booking them all hotel rooms at the right sort of dates before they all go and he suspects from a headcount that there will be more than a few people sharing and that she keeps mentioning double rooms. He has suspicions that the sneaky manager, an angel though she is, is trying to get him and Zoro into bed with each other.

He... does not know how to feel about that.

Okay. So he does know how he feels about that, just his feelings are conflicted. On the one hand the idea of sleeping with Zoro makes him mentally want to run around in circles yelling “YES PLEASE” and tear off his clothes. But... on the other hand... well. He doesn't entirely trust that Zoro isn't going to get manipulated into going back to Baby. She's got her claws in him pretty deep, she could possibly drag him back. And the thought of that makes Sanji want to cry at the stage they're at, he can only imagine that'd be worse if they slept together. If he let himself be that vulnerable to Zoro and let him in that much only to be abandoned for her of all people? It'd rip him apart.

Shit. He's just going to have to trust Zoro. To trust that he won't do that.

He looks at Nami with a soft look on his face. She thinks that she's helping.

Sanji's phone pings quietly in his pocket alerting him to a message. Sanji scrambles desperately to get it, causing the others to stare at him for his overblown reaction. He just laughs nervously and turns away to open the message. The message pops up on his screen.

Zoro Moss-head-idiot “You're not gonna like this”

Sanji considers changing Zoro's name in his address book so it doesn't always call him that but it's too damn funny to do so.

“What?” Sanji texts back in fear.

Zoro Moss-head-idiot “BB found me.”

“WHAT?! AR EYOU OKAY?!” Sanji texts in panicked desperation, not caring for the typos.

Zoro Moss-head-idiot “Jeez cook. Chill. I'm fine. She's upset but not the kind that ends badly.”

Sanji tries to force his heart rate to get out of the hummingbird range and drop back down to human.

“Where are you?” he tries to reply a little more rationally

Zoro Moss-head-idiot “at hers. Oh god g2g shes crying”

Sanji bites his lip. This is just the sort of thing that he's afraid of. What will crying lead to? Will it lead to some kind of pity sex or make up sex? That'd be awful. But equally he doesn't want Zoro to come back all battered and bruised. If Baby is feeling like she's losing Zoro, and if Sanji has anything to do with it she WILL, then surely she'll want to do one of those. Either she intends to woo him back into line or to scare him back into line.

“Please let me know if you need me. Please? I love you.” He writes. His fingers hover over the keys. This is all so new, he shouldn't... he shouldn't tell Zoro that yet. Certainly not by text. But shit, he does love the shitty marimo and if Zoro...

Goddamnit. Iva was right, he's going to get hurt here, one way or the other. He deletes the “I love you” from his text and sends the rest.

Nothing comes back from Zoro. He supposes that the marimo is... busy. Sanji chews at his lip and hates himself for feeling like this.

“You okay Sanji?” Chopper's small voice startles Sanji from the other end of the room.

“Swell.” Sanji answers flatly and shoves his phone back in his pocket.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Usopp chimes in settling on making his best concerned face at Sanji. He notices that the rest of the group at the table is looking at him. Luffy is watching with special concentration, Sanji's eyes flick to the hole in the counter that Luffy somehow left with that butter knife and wonders just what Luffy is thinking to be looking at him so intently, if he thinks that he's the one hurting Zoro again he just might scream.

“No, it's fine. Just... my old man fucking with my head. Nothing to talk about.” Sanji lies. He clocks the way that Robin's eyes narrow at him, as if not quite buying his lie and he doesn't like it one bit.

Sanji waits until the others lose interest in him and continue debating and discussing more about what they're going to do with the competition and what songs would likely give them the best possible advantage against each match with any of the Supernovas or Baby. While they're thoroughly absorbed in that Sanji slides out into the garage and gets in his car.

He fiddles with his phone, staring at it in concern. Should he just drive over to Baby's in case Zoro needs him? But what if she sees him there and realises that Zoro contacted him? That would put him in more danger when he claims that he's fine right now. But... equally if something bad did happen and it took him too long to get to Zoro he probably will never forgive himself.

Zoro Moss-head-idiot “HLEP”

Sanji jolts as Zoro's text comes in. It clearly means help and the fact that he was too rushed to text properly is terrifying. He jams his key into the ignition as fast as possible and slams the gear into reverse. He floors it, spinning the car tightly to turn around and speed towards Baby's as fast as is physically possible.

Sanji's heart hammers and he can hear his pulse in his ears. What's Baby doing to him?! It must have been bad for Zoro to actually text him. He knows that Zoro can handle himself against her, that he's smart and blocks and ducks when he can. He vehemently thinks that Zoro shouldn't have to ever have to handle himself against a partner like that but Zoro is strong. So... so if he texted him...

He has visions of arriving and bursting in to find Zoro slumped in a pool of blood at the bottom of a flight of stairs, or perhaps with the kitchen knife that Baby last used on him sticking out of his chest. His foot is flat on the floor of the gas and he's probably going to kill his engine doing this.

On the seat beside him his phone buzzes and Sanji damn near flips his car trying to answer it.

“ZORO!” He yelps and skids over to the side of the road, mounting the pavement and nearly hitting a parked car.

“Hey. So, before you have kittens from panic or something, I'm safe now. I'm out of her reach.” Zoro says casually down the phone. Sanji's heart is still running at a million miles an hour though.

“What does that mean?!” He squeaks.

“GET YOUR FUCKING ASS DOWN HERE NOW!” Baby's voice yells on the other end of the phone, she sounds distant though, as if she's a little further away from the phone than Zoro is.

“I mean I'm on the roof and she can't get to me.” Zoro answers simply.

“You- wh- the ROOF?!” He exclaims. He looks around and realises that he's only a few streets away from Zoro's current location. He gets out of his car and locks it behind him, sneaking in the direction of Baby's house.

“Oh, hey, you're here.” Zoro says quietly in his ear.

“Uh huh. Tell me how you're on the roof.” Sanji scowls, as he peeks at her house from a shrubbery and spies Zoro sat on her sloped roof with his phone pressed to his ear.

“Well, she flipped out, tried to kick me. I hightailed it, she caught me once when I was going for the door but I managed to get out the bathroom window, up the drainpipe and here I am.” the other man explains and Sanji watches as he casually leans back to lay on the roof.

Baby is leaning out of the window on the top floor, clearly working out either how to get Zoro down from there or how to get up there herself. She keeps shouting for him but he's not responding.

“Quick question, just how did you plan on getting down from that roof?” Sanji asks, having a horrifying feeling that he already knows the answer.

“Huh. I didn't really think about that.” Zoro notes with a shrug.

“Great. And ah... how long were you planning on staying up there? I lack a huge ladder to get you down and if you climb back inside she'll beat the tar out of you and, unless you can secretly fly, leaping from the roof is a dumb idea!” he snaps irritably.

“Uhm...” Zoro mumbles uncertainly. Sanji slaps his face with his hand and groans.

“Right. Great plan.” Sanji groans.

He ducks back as Baby comes out of her house and starts prowling around on the ground, looking up at the roof for any signs of Zoro. Sanji doesn't want Baby to see him, if she does then she'll certainly work out that Zoro's told him what's happening between them.

“Get DOWN!” She orders sharply. Sanji peeps through the hedge cautiously and watches as Baby gives Zoro's bike a solid kick until it falls over.

“Was that my bike I just heard?” Zoro asks him through the phone.

“Yeah.” Sanji confirms and watches with wide eyes as Baby kicks the thing more. She disappears off into her garage and comes out with a tyre iron and proceeds to beat the crap out of Zoro's bike, all whilst yelling for him to come down.

“I don't want to know what she's doing to my poor bike do I?” the other man questions sadly.

“Not really. But... maybe Franky can fix it? It'll need a lot of new- uh. No, you're gonna need a new bike, she's just running over it with her car now. On the plus side it seems to have scratched her paintwork up really badly.” Sanji informs him softly from his hiding place. He wonders if he might be able to buy Zoro a new bike for his birthday or something, it's the end of January right now so perhaps Zoro's birthday is coming up soon, it has to be sooner than Christmas though right? He actually has no idea when that is, he needs to ask him sometime.

Before Sanji can question Zoro on that Baby screams, having seen her paintwork. She storms inside and Sanji perks up, concerned that she's going to try climbing up to Zoro. He follows her progress through the building with his eyes and watches in dawning horror as he sees her go from window to window and shut and lock each one. She's making sure he can't get back in.

“I'm going to be stuck up here then.” Zoro says, having evidently realised the same thing.

“Not if I can help it.” Sanji argues back. He watches as Baby leaves the house in a rage and throws herself into her gar, gunning the engine and speeding off out, presumably to get her paint job fixed if the way she glared at Zoro's bike was any clue.

“You shouldn't have to put up with this you know, me calling you and dragging you out here into this. I should be able to handle my own shit.” Zoro says quietly.

“Yeah, you should handle your own shit. And you do. It's her shit that I'm helping you with and you shouldn't need to deal with that at all, much less all by yourself. Hold up, I'm going to get the car, be right back and shout if Baby comes back. I'm not going to hang up.” Sanji assures him and sprints to his car, throwing it into gear right away, he has no idea if Baby's going to come back quickly or not and he doesn't want to be caught here if she does return.

He pulls sharply up to the house and stops right before Zoro's bike, he jumps out, leaving the engine idling whilst he rescues the mangled mess of metal and rubber. That gets thrown into the flatbed and he pulls forward some more, about as close to the house as he can manage. He turns the engine off and climbs into the flatbed and then onto the cab roof.

“Hey, can you get to where I am? I think I pulled up near you.” Sanji asks, looking straight up.

“Hold on.” Zoro grumbles and hangs up. Sanji looks at his phone in indignation before he glances up once more to see Zoro's head peering down at him from the roof above.

“Geez! Don't lean out like that, you'll fall head first! We don't want you getting any kind of brain damage here!” Sanji yells and Zoro rolls his eyes and disappears from sight.

“You want me to jump?” Zoro's voice calls, sounding disbelieving.

“Yes! Land on the roof of my car, it's the highest point and far less distance to fall.” he answers back.

“But I'll dent it.” the other man points out.

“Zoro, I can get a new roof, I can't get a new Zoro. So get over here.” Sanji snaps back irritably.

“Can you hang off of the roof and jump down onto the roof of the cab? I can catch you if you fall when you get here. I probably can't just catch you right outta the air because you're kind of bigger than me.” the blonde reasons.

As romantic as plucking his love out of the air would be he thinks that he's most likely to drop him if they try that and then they'll both fall off of the vehicle and onto the ground and get hurt even more. Not a good plan.

“Gee, thanks.” Zoro says flatly.

“Well if you'd like me to break my arms and you to land on your head, go for it.” Sanji argues back.

“I'm gonna jump and aim for your face with my feet.” the guitarist grumbles and edges off of the building.

“Good, with your sense of direction it means you'll never hit me.” Sanji says, trying to keep his mouth moving instead of feeling so nervous.

Sanji watches nervously as Zoro lowers himself until his butt slips off the roof, he twists and dangles himself from his left hand. He manages to hang there for a second or two, stabilising himself before dropping down towards Sanji. For a split second whilst Zoro is falling through the air Sanji's heart is in his throat. Zoro lands on Sanji's roof with a loud metallic thunk and Sanji snatches the other man to him like a drowning man to a lifeline. Miraculously the two of them don't fall off onto the ground.

“Shit Sanji, your roof.” Zoro says softly, looking down. Sanji looks as well as sees that his roof is indeed dented around Zoro's feet.

“I don't care, now let's get out of here before your psycho girlfriend shows up again!” He orders, pulling Zoro by the hand onto the flatbed of his truck before jumping to the floor. The two of them get into the cab itself, dented roof and all, and Sanji throws the car into reverse and speeds off of Baby's property, leaving big car tracks on her lawn.

Sanji drives back to their house with Zoro slumped over silently in his seat. He's got his feet on Sanji's dashboard and he looks sullen and miserable.

“I know you must be angry, and you think I'm stupid for going there. So just say it.” Zoro snaps and slides a little lower in his seat, bringing his shoulders up to his ears almost. Sanji considers this and realises that this is not exactly a conversation that he should have whilst trying to focus on driving, he pulls over to the side of the road and turns the engine off.

He looks over at Zoro who is quite deliberately not looking at him, he's scowling forwards but his entire body language is small and defensive. These are the kind of scars that Baby leaves him that Sanji can't see on his skin.

“I probably would have gone too if it was me. I mean, if she seemed reasonable I probably would have thought it might be a chance to either end things or to calm her down enough that she wouldn't show up at the cafe again screaming and terrifying the customers.” Sanji shrugs.

“I was hoping she was going to break up with me.” Zoro admits in the quiet of the car. Sanji looks over at Zoro and watches him carefully, he wonders if Zoro is as eager to start their relationship in earnest, without Baby's interference, as Sanji himself is. From the look of crushed hope on Zoro's face he can pretty easily guess the answer.

“I'm not mad at you, at all.” Sanji says, trying to reassure Zoro.

“Tch, I didn't think you were, bastard.” Zoro shoots back defensively. But he's got a small grin on his face and his body language relaxes and his defensive posture drops. His feet on Sanji's dash are now no longer looking like he means to bring himself as close to defensively curled up as possible, now his legs are stretched out and he just looks cocky and chilled out. Sanji is pretty sure that some of Zoro's body language is bluster and confidence that he doesn't quite feel yet, but it's far more like the Zoro that Sanji prefers.

Zoro tilts his jaw at Sanji arrogantly and it pulls such a big beaming grin to Sanji's face that he's pretty sure that he's actually glowing. He feels the expression on his face falter though when the light catches Zoro just so and he can see four thin red stripes glowing across Zoro's cheekbone and he'd be stupid not to realise that they are pretty much exactly the size and shape of Baby's fingers. There's a matching red imprint on the bottom of Zoro's jaw that roughly corresponds to the heel of Baby's palm.

Running purely on instinct Sanji twists in his seat, unbuckles his seatbelt and leans over into Zoro's space and presses his lips to the mark on Zoro's face. He should probably be realising that this is a bad idea, that he shouldn't be building up any kind of situation where Zoro can be allowed to think that he's with him out of pity or that he gets off on being the good guy and putting Zoro back together. Because he loves Zoro in spite of all that's happened to him, not because of it, he doesn't have a thing for pity or for being the hero, frankly he'd rather that Zoro wasn't in this kind of situation at all.

Zoro pulls back away from him and looks at him, Sanji looks at him, his eyes still half lidded from the magic of having kissed Zoro at all.

“I'm sorry, does it hurt?” He asks softly.

“No, she only caught me the once.” Zoro mumbles, rubbing at the red spot on his cheekbone.

“You shouldn't have to...” Sanji shakes his head, not quite knowing what to say or even how to phrase it. Zoro seems to get what he means though and laughs quietly and rueful.

“I-” Zoro starts, but Sanji cuts him off.

“I swear if you say that it's your fault at all I'll just scream.” Sanji grumbles, making Zoro laugh sharply. Sanji scowls because he's now pretty much certain that it's exactly what Zoro was about to say, apologising for having gone there at all, apologising for being with her, apologising for everything under the sun when she is the one who should be doing more than apologising.

“Heh, I won't then.” Zoro smiles a little weakly. The other man makes a frustrated noise in the back of his throat and scrubs a hand through his hair. The guitarist looks across the cab at Sanji and his mouth opens and hangs like that for a second, like he's trying to put something into words, though Sanji doesn't know what. Though as he said, if it's the bastard apologising he will genuinely lose his mind.

Sanji's phone ringing makes him jump, and interrupts whatever it was that Zoro was going to say. Sanji shoots his phone a blistering glare, hoping like hell that whomever interrupted Zoro has a good reason for doing just that. He glances at the screen and sees to his surprise that it's actually his old man calling at him.

“Hey, what's up?” Sanji frowns, picking up the line. His old man doesn't call him for anything trivial, so if he is then something must actually be up. He mouths sorry to Zoro and the guitarist just shrugs and stretches out distractingly in his seat.

“Oi, eggplant.” Zeff greets, making Sanji grit his teeth in irritation.

“WHAT.” He repeats frostily.

“All of your shitty colleagues have come down with the stupid flu, do you think that you could come and at least take the delivery for me? The shitty kegs are all out too because Patty is a lying little shitbag and said he did it when he didn't.” Zeff grouses down the phone.

On instinct Sanji wants to tell his old man to get fucked and do it himself, but the idea of his old man stumbling with his fake leg makes something sick coil in the bottom of his stomach.

“Hm, you gonna pay me old bastard?” He questions because, hell, he's not going to let his old man have it that easy, even if he does intend on actually helping him.

“How about if you come down here I don't kick your ass?” Zeff offers.

“You can try, shitty old geezer. I'll be there as soon as I can, I've got another pair of hands for you too.” He adds and hangs up.

“Who?” Zoro questions with a raise of his eyebrows.

“My old man, he needs a hand moving some shit.” Sanji shrugs, turning his engine back on and mentally planning the route from halfway between Baby's house and their own.

“And... you just volunteered my help too?” Zoro frowns, sounding considerably annoyed by Sanji's boldness.

“Well, you know.” Sanji shrugs innocently. “I know how you hate to feel like you owe someone...” He grins angelically.

“Ass.” Zoro grumbles and punches him in the arm, enough to make Sanji laugh. He chances a glance over to Zoro in the pretence of checking in the mirror and sees that his guitarist is also struggling to repress a smile, not that he'd show it if Sanji was looking at him directly of course. Idiot.

When they pull into the Baratie staff car park Sanji mentally winces when he sees the big stack of crates and barrels outside of the back door. He supposes that he should be thankful that the delivery guys were helpful enough to take the alcohol off of the trucks, more often than not when Sanji worked for the Baratie he would have to climb into the delivery trucks and take everything off himself as the delivery drivers were so goddamn lazy.

“Hey, I've actually been here before for a show.” Zoro says aloud, looking up at the sign above the venue. Sanji tries not to consider the idea that at some point Zoro was here when he was working and he'd managed somehow to not notice him.

“Well, we are the best.” He answers modestly, trying and failing to restrain a smirk.

“So this is who you brought with you then.” Zeff's voice says from the back door of the bar.

“It's you! You're the psycho with the moustache!” Zoro yelps, pointing at him.

Ah yes, Sanji remembers now. Zeff had stalked Zoro briefly.

“Great. Zoro, this is my old man. Old geezer, this is Zoro. Try not to talk to him at all, you've made a bad enough impression already.” He grumbles and heads over to the kegs of alcohol.

“Oi, Zoro, help me carry these kegs in first.” Sanji demands, hefting one of the kegs of alcohol in their metal barrels as he unsteadily carries two to the back door. Seeing no other course of action than to continue staring at Zeff and pointing at him in horrified outrage, Zoro complies and does what he's told. Thank heavens for small miracles.

“Why are you bringing him here?” Zeff questions him, nowhere near as quietly or subtly as he should, considering that Zoro is only a few paces behind him.

“Because you needed the help, remember? Or have you gone senile in your old age too?” Sanji argues and shoves his way past him.

“Bring the barrels to the edge of the bar, I'll need to take them down to the basement and get some of them hooked up probably. Knowing Patty he's probably not done it right since I've been away,” Sanji orders, dropping the barrels down as gently as possible and straightening up with a stretch of his back. He doesn't mind carrying the barrels about to help out his old man, but damn they're heavy and they put a fair bit of strain on his spine.

“Why does your old man hate me so much? And why didn't you tell me that he was my crazy stalker?” Zoro asks him, putting his own barrels down next to Sanji's own.

“Maybe because the only two bits of knowledge he has about you are me coming back and asking him advice on whether to ask you out or not and then him finding me in the aftermath of doing just that. This is where I came that night.” Sanji shrugs, gesturing to the bar.

“Emptied far too much of my alcohol supply drowning his sorrows crying over you. So, I'm gonna ask you again. Why are you here?” Zeff growls, getting right up in Zoro's face with his angry scowl and twitching moustache. To Zoro's credit he stands his ground against Zeff and glares right back up at him.

“If my boyfriend asks me for a favour I don't say no, and he wanted to help his old man. So here I am.” Zoro answers back curtly.

Sanji feels like he's been struck by lightning. Electricity tingles from the crown of his head, through his heart and all the way down to his tiptoes, setting everything it passes through alight with brightness and glee. Zoro called him his boyfriend! He nearly manages to restrain from making a pathetically girly squeak of happiness and from getting a whole stream of hearts in his eyes. Nearly, but not quite.

“Oh god.” Zoro groans, rubbing his forehead and rolling his eyes at Sanji.

“Forget it, he's gone. Just... break his heart and I'll kill you. I need a drink.” Zeff bitches and stomps off to the bar. Zoro flicks Sanji a weary look and looks longingly at the alcohol all stacked up on the walls of the bar, Sanji's eyes narrow as Zoro starts to take some hesitant steps towards the other competition Sanji has for Zoro's love, alcohol.

“Oh no you don't moss brain. You're going to go get the rest of that shitty delivery in for me whilst I connect up these barrels!” Sanji growls, yanking Zoro back by the back of his shirt.

“Hey, I'm not your slave.” Zoro protests with a glare.

“And here I thought you felt bad for denting my roof.” Sanji glowers at him, his hands on his hips.

“Geez you're a malicious son-of-a-bitch.” the guitarist retorts.

“Oh, really? I guess you'd be right about that.” Sanji purrs, getting up close into Zoro's space.

He turns his head ever so slightly, just in Zeff's direction and lets his grin become truly evil.

“HEY OLD MAN! ZORO JUST CALLED EITHER YOU OR MY MOTHER A BITCH, I'LL LET YOU TWO SORT THAT OUT!” Sanji hollers at the top of his lungs, despite Zeff being easily within earshot of much less obnoxious yelling.

Zoro goes an interestingly pale colour and a deep rumbling growl echoes across the room from somewhere in Zeff's direction. Zoro's face is a hilarious mix of indignant betrayal, terror and begrudging approval of Sanji's cunning.

“Oh, look at that, I've got to go do those barrels. Be a doll and get the rest for me won't you?” Sanji grins, pecking Zoro on the cheek and disappearing down into the basement with an innocent whistle.

“Saaaanji!” Zoro yelps after him as Sanji hears the sound of Zeff's chair scraping out against the floor. Dull footsteps ring out from the floor above and Sanji can feel Zeff's best malevolent aura radiating even down here through the floor above his head.

“Uh... sir... I... I'lljustgogetthosebarrelsnow.” Zoro mutters, shortly followed by the bang of the door.

Zeff's face appears at the top of the trap door, his face inscrutable except for the particular semaphore like twitching of his moustache that Sanji has long since learnt to read as expression of real emotion. Currently his old man is amused.

“You are an evil son-of-a-bitch.” Zeff says seriously.

“Duh.” Sanji smirks back and shoves his earphones over his ears. As amusing as winding Zoro up is he needs to actually do some work here for his old man and it'll go quicker if he just focuses on the mundane task.

Sanji mournfully examines the row of kegs that are hooked up under the bar, from down here where they're stored in the cold basement they are pumped up to the taps behind the bar, however they work considerably better when those kegs have something in. Each keg also has a CO2 line into it to pressurise the beer up to the pump and to keep it fresh, his first job is to check each one to see that the shitty staff haven't also let those run empty. To his relief they still have some left in but he suspects he'll be back here changing those before too long as well.

Sanji drags the first cold keg over along the gritty concrete floor, letting his music overwhelm the scraping sound that always sets his teeth on edge. He lets his mind wander as he flicks off the CO2 line and disengages the coupler handle where it's attached to the current empty keg and grimaces as he sees that it's covered in gunk. He sets about cleaning it before even THINKING of attaching it to his new keg.

He supposes, as he scrubs gunk from the line, that he's glad that he and Zoro can still bitch and fight with each other after all of this. Considering just how much Baby has damaged Zoro he'd been worried that the two of them might be stuck in some limbo where he ended up treating Zoro like he was made of glass or Zoro being too messed up to let Sanji in. But that doesn't seem to have happened, even within the same afternoon of Zoro running into a bad situation with Baby Zoro can still bicker with him. Zeff is really right, he's completely gone.

He grins as an appropriate song comes onto play in his ears and, though he doesn't need the prompting, he starts to sing. It's something he's always done when he's bored or when he's happy and now as he's more than a little of both he might as well indulge himself.

Sanji begins with all the silly overdramatic crooning melancholy that he can muster because as much as he likes singing and wants to make it his life it's still something that he finds fun and playing around with his voice and artists that he loves is what makes him passionate about his craft in the first place. So whilst he'd be unlikely to be so overblown in front of a huge audience he's more than content to have fun in his own basement, besides there's no band more fun to sing than Queen.

“I can dim the lights and sing you songs full of sad things,  
We can do the tango just for two,  
I can serenade and gently play on your heart strings,  
Be a Valentino just for you,”

He grins and throws himself into the next part with enthusiasm.

“Ooh love,  
Ooh loverboy,  
What're you doin' tonight,  
ooh hey boy,  
Set my alarm, turn on my charm,  
That's because I'm a good old-fashioned loverboy”

He wonders if Zoro likes Queen, he probably would with all of the amazing guitar work in there. Perhaps he might be able to convince him to play it with him for a warm up, that'd be fun.

“Ooh let me feel your heartbeat grow faster, faster,  
Ooh can you feel my love heat,  
Come on and sit on my hot-seat of love,  
And tell me how do you feel right after all,  
I'd like for you and I to go romancing,  
Say the word - your wish is my command”

He beams and twirls on his toe as he finishes hooking up the keg to the line. He turns the valve on it and feels it connect under his hand. He hums through the guitar and shimmies his way along to the next keg, the music taking control of his feet and his body and getting him to dance as much as he can whilst working.

“Ooh love - Ooh loverboy,  
What're you doin' tonight?  
Ooh, hey boy,  
Write my letter,  
Feel much better  
I'll use my fancy patter on the telephone,”

His eyes slide shut and he touches his fingers to his chest earnestly as he begins the slow part of the song. Though it's overblown it does make him think of Zoro a little, despite how much of an annoying idiot he can be Sanji really does miss him when he's not there, only he's never told Zoro that he loves him. Not yet anyway.

“When I'm not with you,  
I think of you always,  
I miss those long hot summer nights,  
When I'm not with you,  
Think of me always,  
Love you... Love you,”

Dropping the somber attitude he entirely abandons his work and throws his arms behind his head and allows himself to indulge in a little bad dancing as he sings through the next upbeat part of the song, well aware that the whole building can probably hear him. He's long past being self-conscious though, Zeff's never been able to stop him singing ever since he learnt how and Zoro's heard him enough for Sanji not to care.

“Hey boy where do you get it from,  
Hey boy where did you go?  
I learned my passion in the good old,  
fashioned school of loverboys,”

“Dining at the Ritz we'll meet at nine precisely,  
I will pay the bill, you taste the wine,  
Driving back in style, in my saloon will do quite nicely,  
Just take me back to yours that will be fine,  
Come on and get it,”

Sanji spots movement out of the corner of his eye and thinks that he catches a glimpse of Zoro's boots at the top of the trap door to the cellar. He grins and ignores him though, if Zoro wants to listen then he can and if he wants to sneak and watch him dance, well, Sanji's not going to deny him a show is he? He strokes a hand up his side as he dances and if his shirt happens to slide up a little then, you know, things happen.

“Ooh love, Ooh loverboy,  
What're you doin' tonight,  
Ooh, hey boy,  
Everything's all right,  
Just hold on tight,  
That's because I'm a good old fashioned loverboy”

As the music fades he hears a low chuckle from the trap door that makes him look up properly. Zoro is sat there with his legs on either side of a keg and his chin propped up on the edge grinning down at Sanji.

“You're such a hopeless idiot, you know that right?” Zoro grins affectionately.

“I don't hear you complaining.” Sanji shoots back.

“Not complaining, not when I get to hear you sing and actually see you dance like the little music nerd you are.” Zoro smirks at him.

“Hey!” Sanji protests, his hands on his hips. He's not protesting that much though because the smile on Zoro's face is affectionate and the small blush on his cheeks tells Sanji more than enough that he had no complaints about his dancing either.

Zoro just regards him with a soft sort of smile, his chin resting on his arm as it's folded over the keg.

“What were you like when you were fourteen?” Zoro asks suddenly, the complete non sequitur throws Sanji for a loop and he can only blink in puzzlement at Zoro.

“Uh.” He tries.

“He was an annoying little shit. Like now, but moodier and shorter.” Zeff's voice calls from above and startling Zoro into laughter.

“Fuck YOU old bastard!” Sanji screeches up through the ceiling, his face red at being embarrassed like that in front of Zoro.

“What were you actually like?” Zoro chuckles, looking back to Sanji.

“I don't know, I was just a teenager.” Sanji shrugs, scratching at the back of his neck. He tries to remember what he was like and he mainly just remembers arguing with Zeff and constantly feeling like his life was OVER! Being fourteen was very dramatic for him.

“You probably wouldn't have liked me. I was kind of annoying and angry a lot of the time. I shouted a lot and got into fights and arguments with people and generally pissed everyone else off.” Sanji admits with some embarrassment.

“So, like now but shorter then?” Zoro teases.

“Fuck you too, mossy bastard.” Sanji snaps, flipping the guffawing guitarist off.

“I wish I'd met you instead when I was fourteen.” the other man says a little sadly.

Something clicks in Sanji's head and he realises just why Zoro had been asking. He was fourteen when he'd started seeing Baby, that was five years ago and Zoro was wishing it had been him instead. He looks up at Zoro, his Zoro, sitting at the top of the stairs to his cellar looking down at him. His heart aches and he too wishes that he'd met Zoro when instead of her. He wishes that he'd charmed Zoro off of his feet and flirted with him until they were together as teenagers. He wishes that he was the one who'd got the last five years of Zoro's life and not her.

“Me too...” He agrees quietly.

“Like I said, not sure you would have liked me. I mean, you and I fought bad enough when we first met this time, I was way worse then.” He adds, trying to change the mood a little. After all there's no guarantee that if he and Zoro had met back then he would have got what he has with him now.

“I guess. I probably would have though. But instead of fourteen year old me you get nineteen year old me who's all messed up and still tangled up with her.” Zoro sighs, coming down into the cellar properly with the keg, probably so that Zeff can't hear them so well.

“Well, you wouldn't have liked my school anyway. I didn't.” Sanji snorts, not willing to get sucked into Zoro having some kind of pity party for himself about Baby. Sanji doesn't hold his present relationship or his past relationship with the woman against him and he knows that the man is trying that's what counts.

“What are you putting up with this for? Letting me call you and you having to rush out to rescue me, I know it can't be for my moving services.” Zoro asks with a frown, leaning against a keg that Sanji has already plugged in. Sanji sighs and checks the beer level in the last keg, this one seems to have enough in that he doesn't need to change it, but it'll need to be changed tomorrow.

“Yeah, well, you are shitty at unpacking. You still didn't drag all the kegs down here you ass.” Sanji snorts.

“Sanji. I'm serious.” the other man says, catching Sanji by the hip.

“As am I. You're a shitty helper. Do we seriously have to have this conversation every time you come back from her Zoro? It's not your fault and I know you don't want to be with her but it's not that easy, I get it. Even with all of the mess with her being with you... it's the best thing I've ever had. For real.” he insists.

Zoro's eyes go wide and for a moment or two Sanji thinks that he's shocked or offended the marimo, but after a second when Zoro's eyes kind of glaze over a little but stay just as wide he realises that shock isn't what's happening here. He's getting that weird over energetic vibe from Zoro, the marimo is practically glowing with energy and excitement.

“Let me go get you a pen and paper, I can loan you a guitar if you want. If you don't write that song now I think you might explode.” Sanji sighs and steers Zoro up the stairs and over to the stage. He returns with a guitar and a pen and paper, Zoro immediately sets himself to work, shutting out the rest of the entire world and only playing occasionally to himself as he tries out an arrangement of notes.

Sanji is entirely unable to suppress his smile as he unpacks boxes of liquor. Zoro looks properly in his element again, writing music and acting like himself again. He doesn't like the version of Zoro who isn't sure that he can trust their relationship or the one who thinks that Sanji might change his mind. He certainly doesn't like seeing Zoro right after Baby's decided to maim him in any way, the hollow look in his eyes chills Sanji right to his core. No, Zoro hunched over a guitar and furiously scribbling down guitar tabs is the real Zoro, the one that Sanji's in love with.

Sanji settles down at the edge of the stage after he's finished unpacking all of the delivery for Zeff. Zoro is a million miles away and Sanji's not mean enough to drag him away from his work, besides he likes watching the man do his thing.

He stretches out his back and settles lying down next to Zoro so that his shoulder is more or less near where Zoro's hip is. And just enjoys the quiet sounds of the room, Zoro softly playing the guitar and writing. He can get used to this, hell he can probably do this his whole life.

“Oi, muse. Gimme a word that rhymes with demons.” Zoro demands, poking Sanji in the ribs with his pencil.

“Hey! I'm not a goddamn thesaurus!” Sanji protests, batting Zoro away and fighting down the blush from hearing Zoro actually call him his muse.

“Demons.” Zoro repeats, jabbing Sanji again and making any word in Sanji's head that rhymes with demons promptly vanish so that he's left there mutely panicking.

“Feelin's?” Sanji eventually spits out as his brain churns out. The word hangs there in the air for a second or two as Sanji wishes he could take it back in.

“That... actually works. Thanks.” Zoro agrees and scribbles some more, leading Sanji to a sigh of relief. He's not completely failed as a muse then.

Sanji settles back onto his sprawled out position on the stage and wonders what Zoro would have been like if he'd not met Baby. Probably not much different at his core, perhaps he'd trust a little more easily and be more like the calmer gentle person that Sanji has started seeing himself as well as with the others. Nami's right really, what she'd first said to him about Zoro was true. He's all bark and no bite, Zoro might look mean and scowling but he's actually kind of a soft touch.

He reaches his hand out and touches Zoro's back. The other man startles and flinches at the touch before glancing at Sanji and relaxing into it. There'd probably be less of that kind of a reaction if he hadn't met Baby too. He strokes his fingertips under Zoro's shirt and trails imaginary whorls and spirals over his skin. He draws out music sheets and writes notes onto the man's skin. He scratches his nails gently across him and finds out that Zoro is amusingly ticklish at his sides and he manages to work out just how much he can tickle the other man before Zoro elbows him in the sides.

Eventually Zoro too spreads his body back on the stage, shuffling down so that Sanji just has to tilt his head somewhat to rest it on Zoro's chest, which of course he does.

“Sing this, I'm not sure I've got the guitar right.” Zoro asks, passing the paper to Sanji and sitting up with his borrowed guitar. The marimo shuffles himself around so that he's facing Sanji and cradles the guitar on his lap, waiting for Sanji to start. Sanji slides his phone from his pocket and sets it to record so that they can remember and replicate this later.

He nods to the other man and Zoro starts with something low and bass like that makes Sanji's toes tap with the rhythm of it and lower his own vocal pitch a little more than asked to match him better. As he continues Zoro builds up the energy and Sanji is happy to follow him all the way up.

“I've got emotion,  
dripping out my pores,  
and I thought I would let you know,  
you are the night light,  
ripping through my wicked world,  
how you make it sparkle and glow,  
before I lose control,  
there's just one thing you should know,

“This is for real,  
this time I mean it,  
I'm coming clean,  
please don't let go,  
I said from the start that you could take it or leave it,  
I'd prefer that you keep it.  
Don't let go!  
Don't let go!  
Don't let go!”

Sanji sits up in one sharp movement, this song is for him. It's... it's about him. It's Zoro asking him not to leave, to put up with him a while longer! His breath catches in his throat and he looks over at Zoro who is strumming his way through the bridge, but the other man has his eyes shut. He licks his lips and continues into what is a blatant reference to Baby.

“I had some nightmares,  
clawing at my skin and bones,  
I nearly did explode,  
you smoked the demons,  
gave me back my feelings,  
now I am good to go,  
before my face hits the floor,  
there's just one thing you should know,”

“this is for real,  
this time I mean it,  
I'm coming clean,  
please don't let go,  
I said from the start that you could take it or leave it,  
I'd prefer that you keep it,  
don't let go,”

He reads the next lines and something inside of his chest glows like it might be radioactive. Zoro's done it again, he's made something beautiful out of something that Sanji had said to him. Fuck, how did he ever earn Zoro? What had he ever done that was so wonderful to warrant someone doing this for him?

“This is the best thing that I've ever had for real!  
This is the best thing that I've ever had for real!”

“For a physical challenge I'm notoriously bored,  
intravenous delivery, electrolytes and more,  
every time it's the same routine,  
out with the bad,  
in with the clean,  
before I lose all motor skills,  
there's one thing you should know”

“This is for real,  
this time I mean it,  
I'm coming clean, please don't let go  
I said from the start, that you could take it or leave it,  
I'd prefer that you keep it,  
don't let go”

The lyrics finish there but he flashes Zoro a look and tells him to keep adding to it. A look of burning curiosity overtakes Zoro's expression and the man complies. Sanji feels the need to drive his point home and the song needs a final crescendo so he may as well do both at once.

“This is the best thing that I've ever had for real!  
This is the best thing that I've ever had for real!  
This is the best thing that I've ever had for real!  
This is the best thing that I've ever had for real!”

Sanji drops Zoro's papers to the ground and throws himself into Zoro's lap, just taking the time to move the guitar to somewhere safer. He whines into Zoro's mouth as he kisses him and completely melts when the other man runs his hands down Sanji's back. Zoro's lips and teeth find Sanji's neck and bite down, sending brilliant sparks of pleasure and pain running through Sanji's nerves.

“Oh god, Zoro!” Sanji gasps out and tilts his neck a little as Zoro sucks a mark into his skin.

“Mmm, Sanji.” Zoro agrees, letting his neck go and kissing Sanji's jaw.

Across the room there's an obvious and drawn out sound of a chair screeching on the floor. Sanji jumps and scrambles off of Zoro fumbling with his phone and Zoro's lyric sheets as if he hadn't just been throwing himself at Zoro. That way when his old man comes around the corner of the bar and glares at them suspiciously he's not so blatantly all over the other man.

“Well! We had better go, we've got to pack for the competition. Bye old man!” Sanji yells, dragging Zoro out by his wrist. They exit the bar, leaving the side door banging shut behind them. Despite the fact that Zoro would come off way worse in an encounter with Zeff, though in fairness he wouldn't suffer from death by embarrassment.

“Shit, I am not getting caught by my old man so let's go already. Besides, no one at home knows where I am, I just legged it out of the house like my ass was on fire the moment you texted me.” Sanji mutters, his face red all the way to the tops of his ears.

He shoves the sniggering Zoro in the car and throws it into gear. They need to get ready for touring for this competition but in truth he'd feel a lot better about the whole thing if Baby wasn't competing too, he's pretty certain that she's going to do everything she can to ruin Zoro's chances of winning and by extension the rest of theirs too. She wants him to leave their band and join her and what better way to do that than to make him lose and have herself win? He only hopes that he can help Zoro through it like he did before and hope that somehow she gets the hint and breaks up with Zoro in a way that won't hurt him too much.


	16. Chapter 16

Sanji stands in awe outside the front of the mansion, he can see now why Nami thought that they only needed two vehicles to travel all that way. Sanji had assumed that they would be going in the van and his car from what Nami had said but that's certainly not the case! The vehicle that is parked outside of the front of the mansion is a bus, there's no other way to describe it. It's at least two floors tall and is incredibly long. It's got a design of a lion painted on the front and great big paws painted above the front wheels. The words Thousand Sunny are written on it's side. Sanji realises that there was no way that Franky had this parked at the mansion, he can be a bit oblivious sometimes but even he would have noticed that parked in their garage. 

“It's Franky's baby. He bought it with Usopp when he joined the band.” Nami explains with a smile. 

“Whoa.” Sanji says rather redundantly. He supposes that his staring shows his surprise obviously enough. 

“We'll need your car with us though the Sunny is hardly practical to drive to a show or about in the town that we go to. We'll tow it behind, that way we don't need to pay for the gas for it too.” Nami says sensibly, always aware of saving money, she's such a thrifty genius!

He climbs aboard the bus to have a look around it, he has to climb a fair set of steps after the driver's seat to get up to the lowest floor of the bus. He can hear the hollow ring of the floor under his feet and realises that they've probably got luggage stored down below, it's probably where all of the instruments go along with their suitcases and such. 

This floor is divided in two, the first half is a proper room that has a long dining table bolted to the floor with swivel chairs bolted down too. There's a small kitchenette across the other side of the room that looks like it could prepare a simple on the road meal, but nothing fancy. He notes that the cupboards are bolted shut so that everything won't spill out every time the driver turns a corner. 

Curiously he peeks into the second half of the lowest floor of the Sunny, this proves to be a bathroom of decent size it has a sink and a toilet as well as a small shower that probably only works when the bus is set up in a campsite with water mains. All the same it's very nice. 

Upstairs there are some proper seats, like the kind that you might expect to see on a coach like this, but they only take up a little bit at the front of the bus, the rest of the floor is either sofas or padded floor and walls. There are bean bags and such scattered about up here and Sanji has his suspicions that Zoro is their primary owner. He can also see hooks spaced evenly across the ceiling and finds himself puzzling as to what they could be for. 

“Hammocks.” Zoro's voice says from behind him, making Sanji jump. 

“What?” Sanji asks stupidly. 

“Hammocks, on the ceiling. If we drive through the night to get somewhere and Nami is cheaping out on us then we can sleep up here. There's enough for all of us, including you, I guess Luffy always knew how many members he wanted in the band.” Zoro answers, pointing up. 

“Oh.” Sanji says blankly, looking up. He's never slept in a hammock before, he doesn't know what it would be like. 

“Is it comfortable?” He asks curiously, running a fingertip along the ceiling. 

“It's okay, but I can sleep anywhere can't I?” Zoro grins teasingly. 

Sanji notices that Zoro has one of his electric guitars with him and the marimo settles down in the far end of the bus. As Sanji joins him he sees that there's a fair number of sockets in the wall, some of them are just plain electricity sockets but some appear to be the kind of female guitar lead sockets that one would find in an amplifier. Zoro has a short guitar lead looped in a coil in one of his belt loops. 

Closer examination of the padded walls reveals that there are also buckles and straps on the walls, the purpose for which is made clear when Zoro undoes one set of them and then does them up around his guitar, holding it perfectly in place and out of the way so it's unlikely to be damaged in transit and yet still accessible. 

“You know the first place is over a day's drive away, you'd better pack some shit to do up here or else you're gonna be bored. I'm sure as shit not gonna entertain you for that many hours straight, it's bad enough with Luffy getting stir crazy, I don't need you losing your mind too.” Zoro says grumpily. 

“I'm an only child, I can entertain myself for long stretches of time.” Sanji pouts, though in truth he thinks that he will go up to his room and get some things to take on the trip. Perhaps his laptop and a selection of movies, he could even download some audiobooks, maybe take his notepad and see if he and Zoro can write some more songs together. 

“Entertaining yourself huh? You do that in public shitty-singer?” Zoro asks, with an eyebrow waggle and lecherous grin that is obscene and probably illegal somewhere. 

“ZORO!” Sanji yelps, scandalised. He swings a kick at the other man in mock outrage and chases the laughing guitarist down the bus stairs and around the bottom floor. The two of them are thrown out by an angry looking Franky who warns them not to trash the place. When they're off of the bus Sanji swipes for Zoro's head and the chase begins again. 

Zoro gets caught up at the front door and Sanji manages to kick him in the side of the thigh, making Zoro yelp in surprise. 

“Oh, you're in for it.” Zoro yells and sprints after Sanji, their aggressive game of tag switching places. Zoro manages to catch him and socks a hard punch right into Sanji's arm, making his fingers tingle in numbness.

“My ARM!” Sanji whines, shaking his hand to get feeling back in it. Zoro cackles gleefully and the two of them make their way back towards the house. 

Sanji finally gets some feeling back in his hand and celebrates by using it to slap Zoro in the arm. The sound of skin smacking skin though reminds Sanji of that video of Baby slapping Zoro and in one terrifying moment he realises just what he's done. He's Zoro's boyfriend and he's just attacked him, he'd sworn that he'd be nothing like Baby and here he is already doing the same thing to him!

“Earth to Sanji?” Zoro says, snapping his fingers in front of Sanji's face to get his attention. 

“I'm so sorry!” Sanji wails, tears building in his eyes as he clasps his hands over his mouth in horror at himself. What's WRONG with him? There's no way he can apologise for this, he ought to throw himself off of the nearest bridge to pay for his horrible crimes!

“Huh?” Zoro frowns, blinking stupidly at Sanji. 

“I kicked you and slapped you!” He squeaks out and buries his face in his hands. 

“Yeah? You've actually got a pretty good kick on you, but I made your arm go dead, so I totally win. It didn't hurt that bad did it? Let me see.” Zoro says, tugging at Sanji's sleeve in concern.

“God, no! Don't worry about me! I- I attacked you and... and after everything that Baby did I- I should never have done that! How can you ever forgive me? You trusted me and I let you down! I did the same thing as her!” Sanji sobs wretchedly, he's the worst person alive! 

“For fuck's sake.” Zoro grumbles, smacking his forehead with his palm. 

“Did you do it for the express purpose of hurting me, punishing me, forcing me to do something or to intimidate me?” Zoro demands flatly. 

“No, of course not! It was a stupid game, I should have thought-” Sanji sniffles pitifully.

“Then it's not the same. We were... I don't know what the word is, messing around, playfighting, whatever. It was fun, at least until you got all overdramatic about it. I didn't even think about it, but I like that you were relaxed enough with me to do it, until you freaked out at least.” Zoro snorts.

“You don't hate me?” Sanji asks tentatively. 

“Yes, you're a loser and I hate your face and all of the rest of you. Let's go already.” Zoro groans, shoving Sanji in the face and walking back off towards the house. 

Sanji stares dumbly at the retreating marimo and catches him up in a few quick strides. 

“So, we're cool?” He asks anxiously. 

“I'm cool, you're a nerd.” Zoro corrects him smugly.

“No, you're an intensive asshat!” Sanji screeches and elbows him, making Zoro laugh gleefully. Sanji feels himself relax at that, Zoro really is okay. He doesn't have to worry about him, the other man isn't made of glass and... and he trusts Zoro. He trusts him to tell if Sanji does something he doesn't like. 

Sanji has a few last things to pack so he plans to detour into his room whilst Zoro does the same. Zoro apparently hasn't packed at all as when he goes into his room Sanji can see that he is only now throwing clothes haphazardly at a suitcase without so much as folding any of them. 

The singer rolls his eyes and heads into his own, considerably neater, room. He had of course packed last night after they got back and all of his clothes are neatly and appropriately chosen and folded carefully so as not to crease. It helps though that he only moved here recently and thus some of his stuff can just be put back in a suitcase, he doesn't have to hunt around for things. 

Sanji considers that he'll want to take his laptop with him then, if he's not driving of course. He crouches down and pulls out his laptop bag from underneath his bed. Seeing as he never usually takes his laptop anywhere it doesn't get much use, but he'd brought it here when he moved and if he's going to take it on tour with him he ought to bring it in it's proper protective bag. He puts his hand inside and freezes when it collides with a bottle.

He knows what that bottle is. 

It's a small plastic bottle, a little longer than Sanji's palm. He'd left Zeff's in a rather haphazard fashion and he'd thrown things every which way when he packed, he'd not even put his laptop in his laptop case at the time, he'd thrown other stuff in there because he'd found it afterwards. One of the things he'd thrown in his laptop bad was the bottle. The bottle currently in his palm. 

He pulls it out and stares at it. 

It is a small bottle of lube, also in the bottom of his bag are an assortment of condoms that he'd thrown in there when he'd emptied out his bedside drawer. 

He flicks a nervous glance across his room and is relieved to note that he shut his bedroom door and that Zoro isn't likely to walk in and see him eyeballing a bottle of lube. 

His brain collides the idea of Zoro and lube and Sanji's brain nearly melts. Nami had booked them a room together and... with this he could have sex with Zoro. A needy throb runs through his body at that idea, he wants that so badly. But... Zoro still isn't entirely his is he? Should he be having sex with him in that kind of situation? He's already overly emotionally invested in Zoro and having sex will only make the whole thing worse in that regard. If he doesn't bring this with him then he has an excuse to not sleep with Zoro. 

He knows that he wants to sleep with Zoro, badly, and that if Zoro were to come on to him or if he was to be presented with the opportunity to convince Zoro after the excitement of a gif then... well, he'd be more than tempted. He knows that he would potentially be dumb enough to forgo protection with Zoro, which would be a really dumb decision because whilst Zoro has only slept with one person in his life that Sanji knows of Baby herself isn't above cheating on Zoro so who knows what she, and by extension Zoro, might be carrying. However, Zoro is really amazingly hot and Sanji knows that he's considerably dumber around Zoro and dumber still with the prospect of sex available. However, he is nowhere near dumb enough to consider sex without lube and refusing to pack it would ensure that no spontaneous nookie might happen. 

All of this means that he has to make this decision now. He can pack it and potentially not have sex with Zoro, but make it a very real possibility or not pack it and rule out the chance of sex happening without him having to specifically go out and buy replacements. 

He chews on his lip. He knows that he's weak as far as Zoro is concerned but he should perhaps take things slowly, he should be an adult and talk to Zoro about that sort of thing first. Sanji opens his bedside drawer and with some reluctance drops the lube inside, he follows it with all of the condoms in the bottom of his bag and the miscellaneous other things that he'd thrown in his bag when he moved out. 

Sanji shuts the door and leans his head against it. He's making the right decision here. Besides, he can still do everything else besides sex with Zoro if he chooses to. In fact it might even be nicer that way, he can really relax and enjoy everything else without having to think about sex, because they won't have sex. It's a perfect plan. 

With that decided Sanji fills his laptop bag with what it should be filled with, namely laptop instead of lube. As an afterthought he throws in a notepad and a pen as well and slings his favourite blue headphones around his neck where they settle easily under his jaw. He settles the pack on his shoulder and grabs his suitcase, hauling it out of the room. He's about halfway down the stairs when Zoro catches up to him, stuffs his hand in the back of Sanji's hair and messes his entire hairdo up, shoving it all in Sanji's eyes as he sprints off down the stairs laughing, leaving Sanji blinded and swearing. 

He rearranges his hair just in time to see Zoro disappear laughing and finds himself despairing that this annoying bastard is the guy that he's tangled up in knots over and completely in love with. He's doomed. Though at least he's been smart and decided to wait before sleeping with him. 

Fully packed the Thousand Sunny pulls away from the mansion that they call their home and off into the long drive towards the next venue. Sanji dicks around on his laptop for a while and watches and episode or two of “Who's line is it anyway” which he has saved on his hard drive, but there's only so much giggling to himself that it's possible to do without feeling super embarrassed about it and he notices that the others keep looking at him. 

As Sanji predicted Zoro is slouched in one of his ever present bean bag chairs against the wall of the bus with his electric guitar plugged in and softly playing scales and chords. Sanji slides his earphones off and listens. He lets his eyes slide shut to the drifting strains of music that flow through the air. Zoro's playing sounds kind of carefree, he's playing. Not just in the sense that he's playing the guitar but he's actually playing with it, making sound for fun and chasing little melodies when they come to him or occasionally playing a few bars of something famous. 

He closes his laptop and watches Zoro quietly and feels a surge of something deep and important swell in his chest. He crawls across the slightly padded floor to Zoro and leans between his legs so that he's sprawled across the floor with his arms folded in Zoro's lap and his chin resting on his hands. He's about eye level with Zoro's guitar strings and Zoro has stopped playing in surprise. After a few moments Zoro's hand comes off of the fretboard and combs softly through Sanji's hair. 

“What would have happened if I met you sooner? Could I have stopped...” He trails off, not wanting to say precisely what he wishes he could have stopped, but from the significant look that Zoro gives him he thinks that the other man gets his drift. 

“Don't torment yourself thinking about it. Besides, didn't you say that I wouldn't have liked you as at that age?” Zoro points out reasonably. 

“Yeah, but... maybe you would have been different. I hated my school and everyone in it, but maybe if you'd been there.” He shrugs weakly. He tries to imagine Zoro in his life then, what it would have been like growing up with Zoro. He gets butterflies in his stomach when he realises that Zoro would probably have been his first crush. 

“Why did you hate everyone, or were you just an antisocial moody teenager?” Zoro snickers and messes up Sanji's hair. Sanji thumps him in the leg in retribution. 

“Everyone picked on me. They made fun of me. They- but you wouldn't have, would you?” Sanji mutters unhappily. 

“Sanji, I pick on you now, I spend hours making fun of you.” the other man laughs and twists to strap his guitar to the wall before sliding down a little lower in his beanbag chair so that his legs are on either side of Sanji's ribs and Sanji's face is resting on Zoro's stomach. 

“I don't mean it like that, it was awful. You never do it about anything serious.” he says, his jaw tensing at the memory. 

“What was it about?” Zoro asks him warily, his voice echoing through his chest where Sanji's ear is pressed. 

Sanji sighs and leans up on his elbows, looking Zoro in the eye. 

“I used to stutter. I couldn't talk without doing it at all, I had to have fuckin' years of speech therapy, not that it helped at all. It started when my mother left, it was a nervous thing at first I think but then I just couldn't stop it. All the kids laughed at me and called me S-S-Sanji.” He says quietly, letting himself slip into the stutter to repeat the name. 

“But I've never heard you do that.” Zoro remarks in surprise. 

“Yeah well, Zeff was the one who realised that it never happened when I sang. So I sang all the time at home and got better and better, by the time I was twelve I'd trained myself out of it.” Sanji replies petulantly. Sure he was out of it by the time he was twelve but by then the kids at his school had already made their minds up about him. 

“I can't picture you taking that well.” the guitarist says with a raised eyebrow. 

“Like I said, I got into a lot of fights.” he admits and rubs his face into Zoro's stomach. It feels perfect, he can feel Zoro's abs underneath him but he's still soft enough that it's not uncomfortable for him to lay on.

“Well, who knows. Maybe we were both only mature enough to meet each other when we did.” Zoro says sagely, sounding full of zen like wisdom.

“You say that and sound really cool saying it, but you're forgetting that the first time you met me you freaked out and attacked me and we ended up brawling in the hallway. So I'm not sure that mature is the word you're looking for.” Sanji points out with a laugh and Zoro's face colours at the blonde's reasoning and Sanji laughs. 

“But still,” Sanji says wistfully, “I think you came into my life right when I needed you.”

“This from the guy who was just wishing that he was here earlier than he was.” the moss head grumbles, lacking any sense of romance in his soul. 

“But think about it, it's incredible. Don't you ever think of all the things that you had to go through to get to here?” he sighs.

“I don't believe in fate or crap like that and I don't know how things would have gone and I don't give enough of a shit to think about it. Maybe we would have got on with each other when we were younger but maybe not, who knows. All I know is now.” the other man explains seriously. 

“So what are you saying?” Sanji frowns, confused.

“That it's not a matter of time it's just a matter of timing. Who you are now isn't who you were a year ago, and I like who you are now. Now shut up you're a useless sap and you're infecting me.” Zoro grouses and flicks Sanji in the forehead. 

“That's got a certain ring to it you know.” Sanji muses, batting Zoro's hand away.

“What, 'you're a useless sap and you're infecting me', yeah, that needs to be a song. Let me get my guitar.” Zoro laughs.

“No, you fucker. The other thing. No a matter of time, just a matter of timing. It sounds like a song lyric.” he grouches.

He and Zoro share a significant look and they both at the same time, without speaking, scramble for the guitar and Sanji's pen and paper respectively. The two of them fall easily into the rhythm of song writing together with Zoro prying for details of Sanji's past to get out the nostalgic wonder that he's been feeling and transmute it into music. Without either of them noticing the time passes by them, the sky getting darker and darker around the bus. The two are only briefly distracted to eat and even then they are engrossed in their song, penning lyrics and tabs whilst talking around full mouths. 

Without their noticing Robin curiously photographs them, tangled up on the floor writing, their ankles intertwined and faces close together. Sanji only realises when his phone bleeps because he's been mentioned on twitter and the photo flashes up on his screen when he clicks on it. 

He flicks his gaze over to Robin who smiles at him behind her dainty hand and gives him a cheeky wink. Sanji whines and shows the picture to Zoro who frowns and flips Robin off. Sanji jabs him in the ribs with his elbow as punishment for that, a fight with quickly regresses into a wrestling match which, to Sanji's combined shame he loses and is photographed again and shared with twitter. Now the whole internet can see him pinned underneath a harshly grinning Zoro whilst she shrieks as Zoro shoves a cold hand up his shirt in punishment. 

“Do you suppose she's going to see it?” Sanji asks quietly after Zoro is done torturing him and he's had to turn his phone off to stop the notifications pinging in. 

“Without a doubt.” Zoro shrugs, pouring over the finished first draft of their song. 

“Are you okay about that?” he questions in concern. 

Zoro looks at him quietly and carefully and then shrugs as if he can't care less. Sanji doesn't buy it though, he's seen what Baby does to him, both physically and mentally. He's heard the way Zoro's voice changes when he talks about her, slightly hushed as if she might hear him no matter where she is. 

“There's shit-all I can do about it, so why worry? What happens is what happens.” Zoro says flatly and shuts his eyes, shuffling back into his bean bag chair, the conversation and their song writing evidently over. Because Zoro can't see him Sanji flips him off. That asshole can shut him out if he likes, Sanji doesn't care. He doesn't. The way that he stomps off doesn't contradict that in the slightest. 

He makes his way down to the ground floor of the bus where Nami and Usopp are quietly playing cards, Luffy is to Sanji's surprise sat on the long dashboard of the bus, right by the window. 

“Should he be up there? Won't he obscure Franky's view?” Sanji points out suspiciously. 

“If you think you can get him off of there, you are welcome to try.” Nami snorts in a way that makes Sanji think that this is a fight that was lost long ago and everyone else has just given up. Nevertheless he doesn't feel like engaging in a fight with another blockheaded stubborn moron, so he thinks he'll go talk to Franky. 

“Nice picture by the way, my compliments to Robin!” Nami calls after him, turning Sanji's skin a rather vivid shade of red. He pretends that he can't hear her though, as ungentlemanly as that may be. 

“Hey.” He greets Franky, who is unblinkingly staring at the open road that rushes by in the falling darkness. 

“Hey.” Franky echoes back. 

“Do you need someone to take over? You've been driving for a while.” Sanji offers. 

“Hm, no offence Sanji, but unless you've driven something this big before I'm gonna say no. Besides we're stopping for dinner soon and then Nami will take over.” Franky explains. 

“Oh. Well... okay.” Sanji says and backs off, not wanting to distract their driver any more than he already has. He doesn't want to intrude on Nami and Usopp's card game and Luffy is staring hypnotically at the road as it wooshes under them as Franky drives. He doesn't want the destruction that distracting him will cause, Nami will probably hit them both if Luffy goes back to bouncing around the bus again like he was earlier.

With that all said though, he hardly wants to go back upstairs after stomping out on Zoro like that, but it's hard to avoid him on a bus. Even one as big as this one. He loiters in the stairwell, mulling on his reluctance to return to Zoro upstairs. He's right, they're not mature. Either of them. Zoro is avoiding talking or thinking about his problem and Sanji's is strop with him about that. They're a pair of stupid little boys. 

Well, he's not about to realise that and allow that to happen. After all if he's going to have to have a real and serious relationship with Zoro instead of the destructive kind that the man is used to then he's gonna have to swallow his pride sometimes and be the bigger man. 

Sanji takes a moment to snigger at the thought of being the “bigger man” and then promptly derails into wondering which one of them is actually “bigger” there. 

Fighting down a blush he realises that this isn't particularly mature either and finishes climbing the stairs. Zoro is still where Sanji left him, sat in his beanbag pretending that the entire world, including Sanji, doesn't exist. He sighs and sits down opposite Zoro and tries to be as matures as is physically possible. Zoro's only romantic relationship is destructive and bad for him, he doesn't have experience with this sort of thing and he's probably not used to his partner getting pissed off without taking it out on him. He needs to show Zoro that things are going to be different with him. 

“I'm sleeping, go away.” Zoro says flatly as Sanji has neither moved nor said anything since he sat down. 

Sanji looks around and sees that no one else is paying them any attention, Robin and Chopper are talking quietly amongst themselves at the front of the bus in the chairs up there and Brook is obnoxiously snoring. 

“I'm only worried because I care about you and I'm worried about what might happen to you. I just don't know how... how she will react and...” Sanji tails off, dropping his voice quietly. 

Zoro's eyes slide open and he gazes flatly at Sanji.

“And 'how does that make you feel' Mr. Psychology?” Zoro asks, doing airquotes to mock Sanji. His hackles raise somewhat at that but he decides to play it straight. 

“Scared and kinda like you don't trust me.” He answers genuinely. 

Zoro's hands slowly drop as he looks at Sanji with wide surprised eyes, he clearly hadn't expected Sanji to answer that honestly. The ball was in his court now and Sanji can't help but feel a little smug about that, immature as it may be. 

“It's not that. It's just I can't do anything about it so why bother?” Zoro says uncomfortably, also glancing around wary of being watched and overheard. 

Sanji is about to reply when the bus starts slowing down quicker than Sanji expected, toppling him over with a surprised squeak. Zoro sniggers at him and Sanji glowers as he struggles to sit up. 

“We're pulling over for some superrr dinner!” Franky announces over the bus's intercom.

“WOO MEAT!” Luffy's voice adds before the intercom cuts out. 

At that the band all shuffles around, grabbing coats and bags and getting off of the bus when Franky parks. As the blue haired guitarist locks up Sanji looks around the car park of the diner and realises that he's lost his chance to have the rest of the conversation with Zoro. Damn. Maybe when they're back on the road. 

“That monster truck looks awfully familiar.” Nami says slowly. 

Sanji looks over, across the parking lot is a massive monster truck with huge wheels, it's painted a barbie pink that makes Sanji's eyes water to look at it. Painted on the side is a unicorn goring a heart with it's horn. 

“Isn't that Bonney's-” Robin says as she follows Usopp into the diner. Zoro and Luffy had gone ahead as no force in nature can keep Luffy from food and poor Zoro got grabbed along for the ride. Sanji's sympathy vanishes however when Zoro is tackled by a busty woman with flowing pink hair who promptly grabs Zoro by the shirt and kisses him so hard that she might as well shove her tongue right down his throat. 

“Oh god, not this again.” Nami grumbles and flicks Sanji a concerned look.

“Get off of me you crazy woman!” Zoro yells, shoving her off of him. 

“You always do this Bonney!” He snaps, punching her in the arm. The woman laughs heartily and punches him back, her grin stupidly wide.

“I'm just excited to see you, grumpy bastard!” She cackles and shoves him. 

“Yeah, I'm excited to see you too but you don't see me shoving my tongue in your mouth, do you?” Zoro argues back, making the pink haired girl laugh even louder. 

“I just do it to fuck with you.” She sniggers. 

“Yeah, yeah. I wish you wouldn't.” the guitarist mutters. 

“Uh, Sanji. I'm- it doesn't- she always does this.” Zoro says suddenly looking at Sanji and going completely white, having just realised what Sanji witnessed. 

Sanji folds his arms and looks unconvinced, making Zoro look even more uncomfortable and concerned. 

“Uh, Sanji this is Bonney. She's one of the supernovas and, have I mentioned, also a massive lesbian and not in any way interested in getting in my pants. I swear to god.” Zoro explains hastily. 

“Oh! You got a new singer? He's kinda cute, for a guy.” Bonney exclaims, peering around Nami to get a look at him. 

“Thanks...?” Sanji replies, not sure if he was just complimented or not. 

“Wait! You have a new singer!” Bonney exclaims, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

“Are you boning this one too? Oh my god, you so are!” Bonney cackles manically, looking at Zoro's flustered expression. 

“I'm- we're not- stop that!” Zoro snarls at her, swiping a hand in her direction but Bonney dances back out of his reach, laughing loudly. 

“Don't mind her Sanji, she really is always like this. Come on, let's get a table.” Nami insists, patting Sanji's arm and leading him off. Zoro follows behind them with Bonney at his heels talking quietly to Zoro.

“Nami and Robin are still not interested.” Zoro answers loudly, making Bonney blush violently. 

“You ASS!” She snaps, and shoves Zoro again, making him laugh. 

“Bonney went to school with us for a bit when we were kids. They tried playing together, she's a singer too and she plays bass, but the two of them could never work it out and then she moved.” Usopp explains as they sit down. 

“But they've always been good friends!” Luffy laughs, thumping the table in amusement.

“If you call really aggressively sniping at each other friends.” Usopp sighs. Sanji looks over at Zoro as the other man slides into the booth in their american style diner, shuffling up close to Sanji with an apologetic look. 

Bonney drops into a seat opposite Zoro, her huge beaming grin a testament to the fact that she either doesn't know or doesn't care about how much trouble Zoro could be in. Zoro's anxious squirming at Sanji's side though says that he's well aware. Sanji rolls his eyes, he doesn't like that Bonney just tongued his boyfriend's mouth but Zoro clearly didn't like it either and it seems to just be her way of being aggressively affectionate. 

“As much as I love seeing you squirm, cut it out.” Sanji says under his breath and finds Zoro's hand under the table to squeeze it. Zoro looks at him in surprise before melting into a smile that only the most hardened bastard in the world could resist. He wonders what Baby thinks of Bonney if she's always been like that with Zoro, she can't have been pleased at Zoro having a close female friend, especially not one who might be prone to kissing him to mess with him. He's already seen how poor her relationships with Nami and Robin are. 

“So, are you guys excited for tonight? I know it's not any of us playing, but six bands are tonight.” Bonney grins, leaning over the table excitedly. 

“You know the matchups? I just knew we weren't on tonight.” Nami frowns in concern. 

“I do indeed, I know people Nami. I might tell you, for a kiss.” Bonney sighs, leaning back casually and inspecting her fingernails as if she doesn't care at all if Nami kisses her or not. 

Nami rolls her eyes and sighs in exasperation, leaning over and planting a kiss on Bonney's cheek, right near the ring on her skin. 

“Ehehehheh, okay, I'll tell you.” Bonney smiles, her cheeks pinking a little. 

“Tonight we got three match ups. The winner from each will play a full set tonight, but to keep the time even I think one of them will play on our night tomorrow, as will whoever wins from our matches.” Bonney explains, leaning against the table seriously. Sanji's ears perk up in interest, he doesn't know all that much about the structure of the competition so it's best that he learns now.

“Law and Uroge are against each other first.” Bonney says. 

“Law will win that one, not really fair on Urogue, it's not his music style unless the crowd has changed a lot.” Zoro muses. 

“I agree, next it's Baby against Kid and Killer's band. Frankly I'm a little pissed about that, I wanted to kick your psycho ex's butt myself.” Bonney sighs, answering Sanji's question about her relationship with Baby. 

“I don't know about that...” Zoro hums thoughtfully, leaning back against the bench.

“Say what you like about Baby but she's got one of the strongest voices I've ever heard in my life. The only people who can give her a run for her money on sheer vocal power are Sanji and possibly you on the right song choice.” Zoro says quietly. Sanji feels his hackles raise, he loathes Baby and to hear Zoro say anything positive about her at all just makes him want to spit fire. His temper is pacified somewhat though by hearing that Zoro ranks him as a better singer than her. 

“Gee, only possibly me?” Bonney snorts sounding offended. 

“Well, if you're right it means that I might get matched up against her in the second round. You know how organisers like a good bit of girl on girl action, so to speak. I'd love to trash her personally.” Bonney smirks and cracks her knuckles threateningly. 

“I'd love to see that too, she'd be outraged to lose to you.” Robin agrees with an equally devilish grin. 

“I can just see her outraged prissy little face. I'm amazed she allowed me to live in the same state as 'her man' when you two were together. Talk about possessive and crazy, eesh.” Bonney remarks, whirling her finger around near her temple to indicate how crazy she thinks Baby is. 

“Who's the last pair?” Franky asks, interrupting the debate about Baby that was sure to start up. 

“Oh, Bege and Blackbeard. That guy came completely out of nowhere but apparently he's strong and pretty ruthless too.” Bonney says, her mouth pulling into an uneasy grimace. Bonney clearly doesn't like being unprepared. 

“Well, anyway, since I know Zoro's a cheapass and won't pay for my food I'd better go join my own band again.” Bonney sighs, getting up from the table and tugging at the hem of her very short shorts. 

“You mean your as much of a black hole for food as Luffy is and I'm broke enough anyway.” Zoro snorts in amusement. 

“Po-tay-to, po-tah-to. Speaking of, I'm hungry. Anyway, seeing as you guys have that sweet ride parked outside how do you feel about a friendly jam session. Been a while since you and I played Zoro, that could be fun. And I wanna hear blonde here sing. Let me know!” Bonney chirps and saunters off to her table. 

“I say we say no, she's clearly just trying to suss out how good a singer Sanji is.” Nami says quietly. 

“So?” Zoro frowns, peering down at the menu on the table before sliding it across to Sanji who looks over it unenthusiastically. 

“So, we don't want to let our competition know more than we have to, it's an advantage!” Nami exclaims exasperatedly.

“She just told us about the lineup though.” Usopp points out reasonably. 

“And she's fun, I say we do it!” Luffy declares, making Nami sigh in resignation, knowing that they won't get out of it now. 

“Besides, if you're wanting to be competitive then showing Sanji off is gonna spook her more than not showing him. He's a better singer than her and she's aware enough to realise that.” Zoro says idly. 

Sanji should probably be concerned that his chest is empty of blood right now, seeing as half of it just shot south and the rest shot north to turn his face red. It explains the funny feeling in his chest anyway, like his heart is hammering at a million miles an hour. 

Zoro doesn't seem to notice though and instead just flags a waitress over to take their order. Sanji is only just able to get his order out when the lady asks, as he's so consumed with Zoro's compliment.

Dinner passes quickly and, in Luffy's case, messily. But when they're done Luffy leads them out along with Bonney and her band into the bus. The group heads upstairs and Zoro plugs his guitar in whilst Bonney unzips hers from the pack that she has on her back. She pulls out the bass and slides it over her shoulders and plugs in as well, revelling in the sound she pulls from the instrument. 

“You and me, yeah? How about Date with the Night? We've not played that in years, do you still remember how to?” Bonney asks as one of her band members plugs in a mic for her and puts it down in front of her. 

“Of course I remember, what do you take me for?” Zoro snorts. 

Bonney's band members rush to assemble a basic drum kit behind them, not something they could do whilst driving but Sanji supposes that they can do it parked. Bonney's drummer, a big guy with a beard throws himself behind the drum kit and gets ready to start, his face a picture of concentration.

Zoro fiddles with the setting of his guitar until the notes sound distorted in a cool grungy kind of way and then with no word of warning launches into playing. Bonney's mouth pulls into a grin and after a few second she starts singing, though with her volume it's more like shouting. Her voice is powerful certainly but deliberately scratchy in a grungy way that Sanji finds pretty interesting. 

“I got a date with the night,  
putting out my finger,  
gonna catch the kids dry,  
gonna walk on water,  
buying out the fight ,  
we're sweating in the winter,  
both thighs squeeze tight,”

Sanji tries to place what's wrong with their music. It's not that Zoro or Bonney are playing badly, both of them are playing well. Bonney's voice is incredible and Zoro is clearly having fun playing, but something seems off.

“choke, choke, choke, choke, choke, choke, choke, choke, choke, choke,” 

Sanji frowns as he tries to place what's wrong with it. He likes Bonney's voice and Zoro's guitar but... hm. He doesn't think it's the lyrics either. He lets his eyes settle closed as he tries to tune into Zoro's guitar and really listen to him. It's getting easier each time to slide into Zoro's headspace and rhythm. 

He winces as he clicks into place and suddenly he realises what's wrong. Bonney is making the mistake that he made the first time he and Zoro played together, neither of them are listening to the other, not really. Zoro and Bonney are both trying to lead and they're just yanking each other around musically. The whole thing sounds kind of discordant if you pay attention and it's not at all how he'd sing this if he was in her shoes. And in fairness if he was the one singing Zoro wouldn't be overcompensating with this much power either. 

“don't tell me to fix her,  
don't tell me to fix her,  
just take a bite,  
no hanging no picture,   
blind out my sight,  
dropping brides at the altar,  
both thighs squeeze tight,”

“Sanji, are you okay?” Nami asks him softly as Bonney proceeds to scream 'choke' over and over again in the background.

“Of course my mellorine, why wouldn't I be?” Sanji smiles at her as he drops his attention from the performance before him and transfers it to her. She looks concerned to say the least.

“Well, you know, Zoro... playing with her.” Nami says quietly, tilting her head to Bonney. 

“Zoro can play with who he likes, I don't own him Nami.” Sanji chuckles, it's sweet she's worried for him. 

“Besides, I'm not threatened if that's what you're worried about.” He adds with a smile, returning his gaze to Zoro as the marimo launches into an elaborate guitar solo that is both impressive but steals some of the limelight from Bonney, something that she doesn't look entirely pleased about, although he can tell that she's impressed too. 

“Sorry, sometimes I just forget that... well that not everyone is like her. She would have never allowed this, for Zoro to play with someone else.” Nami frowns and Sanji feels another overwhelming pang of empathy and gratitude for Zoro. The other man is doing amazingly from being so creatively limited for so long with Baby, and for Zoro to trust him so readily... it really shows just what a talented and good hearted person Zoro really is. If Sanji wasn't already quietly in love with the other man he would be by now.

“But look at how much fun he's having, how could I take that from him?” Sanji grins as Zoro rather ostentatiously finishes off his solo and Bonney starts singing again. And it's true, Zoro is in his element here, he's totally playing with sound and enjoying it. 

“You know... hiring you was one of the best decisions I ever made Sanji.” Nami says sweetly and wraps her arm around Sanji's waist affectionately. 

“I wouldn't want to be anywhere else my sweet!” Sanji trills enthusiastically and wraps his arm around her slender shoulders. 

 

“I'll send it to you,  
I'll set it off,  
I'll send it to you,  
I'll set it off,  
I'll send it to you,  
I'll set it off,  
I'll send it to you,  
I'll set it off, uh uh!”

“Zoro sounds very different with her than with Sanji.” Robin notes softly. 

“Well that's why they never played together much, they just butt up against each other like this. They're both too similar, there's no harmony between them.” Usopp shrugs. 

“Buying out the fight,  
gonna walk on water,   
gonna catch the kids dry,  
gonna bend my finger,  
blind out my sight,  
we're sweating in the winter,  
both thighs squeeze tight,  
both thighs squeeze tight!”

Bonney finishes the song with an exuberant laugh and her and Zoro share an enthusiastic high five and start laughing. 

“You've got better!” Zoro laughs happily. 

“And you, check out that finger work, you were shredding those notes out so fast!” Bonney exclaims excitedly. 

“It's nice to be able to do this again, like old times.” Zoro smiles happily, fiddling with the dials on his guitar to undo his grunge settings. 

“Yeah, much better now you and the crazy bitch have broken up.” Bonney agrees. 

Sanji wouldn't see it if he wasn't looking for it, the slight wave of tenseness that runs through Zoro's frame before he nods and hums in a non-committal sort of way and then changes the subject. 

“You didn't mess up your words either.” He teases her.

“As if I would!” Bonney shrieks in mock offence and shoves the laughing Zoro to the side. 

“Anyway,” the pink haired girl smiles in a catlike fashion as she turns her pink gaze on Sanji, “I wanna hear blondie here sing.” 

“Oh, but... I don't know...” Sanji blushes, he doesn't really sing the kind of stuff that Bonney sings. He can but he's never done so with Zoro, if she's expecting the same thing as her stuff there could be a problem. 

“What about that song the two of you were writing earlier? That one sounded good.” Robin purrs from behind them.

“Ah- but we've never practiced it...” Sanji whines looking up at her.

“Oh, it doesn't mean anything! It's just for fun!” Bonney chirps happily. Sanji wonders if Nami is right to be suspicious of her, if Bonney really is just trying to gauge what kind of competition that she's up against, especially as this is one singer to another.

He looks at Zoro but the other man just smiles and shrugs tilting his head to beckon Sanji over. 

Zoro seems to have administrator acess to Sanji's legs because the blonde finds himself walking over to Zoro's end of the bus without the command going through his brain at all. He bends and picks up his notebook from before, glancing over their sketched out tabs and first draft of lyrics. Can they do this? Play something the first time through after only just writing it? He supposes that they've done more incredible things before, writing songs completely on the fly but... that was in the safety of their own home. Not here in front of an audience which was technically in competition against them. 

Zoro however has apparently decided that they'll do it and is already setting his guitar up for the song. Sanji resigns himself to this happening and pulls the mic stand over until it's between them and focuses on Zoro, trying to settle himself into their shared frame of mind and remember how they had both been when they wrote the song earlier. 

“Ooh, drums!” Luffy exclaims and dashes past them into the makeshift drum kit, ousting the drummer from Bonney's band and happily settling himself in the seat. Sanji relaxes a little at that. The song will sound a little better with a beat and Luffy is quite intuitive with that sort of thing. 

Zoro's guitar starts up, bringing up the relaxed melody of the song. Sanji shuts his eyes and summons up the feelings of the song, that sort of wondering nostalgia. He had been wondering how his life had taken the path to get to Zoro and whether there would have been another way to get here. 

He rolls his shoulders and lets Zoro's gentle music wash over him. After a few moments he starts to sing, slow and low but building up in speed and pitch. 

“Sifting through the broken glass,  
the echoes of my ancient past,  
keep flooding into every pore,  
like scattered seeds of sycamore,  
suddenly I started wondering how I got here,  
was it a matter of time?”

He and Zoro click perfectly into place and he can't help but feel that warm glow of home suffusing through him. This is where he's meant to be, right by Zoro's side. He finds himself smiling as he goes on.

“Catholic school my private hell,  
I stuttered 'til the age of twelve,  
discovered sex at seventeen,  
and soon thereafter self esteem,  
the days did not matter,  
and years were a lifetime away,”

He remembers all too well what his younger years had been like, in a school that Zeff had only sent him to for their reputation rather than their faith as a family, of which they had none. 

“Drowning in a heavy stock,  
of teenage girls and indie rock,  
I flunked out of each college course,  
and set my sails for no remorse,  
the nights were for nowhere,  
and that's where I wanted to be,”

Sanji shakes his head, trying to shake away the memory of his past and he starts the chorus.

“Someone said,” Sanji begins but he senses a change and sees Zoro lean forward towards the mic and senses that Zoro wants to sing this bit so he remains silent. Zoro's deeper voice takes his place and sings the next line, and he had been the man who said that very line to Sanji that afternoon, it makes him smile. Their afternoon will forever be captured in song, the two of them in the heat of the afternoon in the bus together doing what they do best. 

"It's not a matter of time, it's just a matter of timing"

“Do you ever wonder how you got to here?” Sanji sings back in reply

“It's not a matter of time, it's just a matter of timing” Zoro sings once more. 

“Do you ever wonder how you got to here?” Sanji sings again.

“Branded, marked and paper thin,  
this angry saint went marching in,  
to war with scores of ninety proof,  
found nothing but the ugly truth,  
the decade of wastage an instant,   
and everything's changed,”

“Woke up feeling thirty five,  
though grateful that I'm still alive,  
another chance at normalcy,  
to chase the dream but now it seems,  
that days run away like wild horses over the hills,”

He and Zoro continue their alternating lines, merging into a perfect balance that aids the conversational tone of the song well.

“someone said  
It's not a matter of time, it's just a matter of timing"  
do you ever wonder how you got to here?  
It's just a matter of timing,  
it's not a matter of time, it's just a matter of timing,  
do you ever wonder how you got to here?” 

Sanji picks up the passion of the song and decides that he may as well show off, he can tell from the grin on Zoro's face that the other man is thinking the same as well. Well, if Zoro wants to effectively show him off and brag then he's hardly going to let the man down is he? He lets the full power of his voice start to come out and he distantly hears the rattle of the windows within their frames as his voice rings through such a confined space. Zoro too shows of his prowess with his guitar too, not one to ever miss a chance to flex his talent or to let Sanji take all of the spotlight.

“Take it in and hold on while you can,  
all the destruction will one day end,  
and you'll finally know exactly who you are,  
it's just a matter of timing,

This time when he begins the final chorus both he and Zoro are singing together, adding a fuller body to the song with the range of his voice and the richness of Zoro's. The two of them just dial up or back their power depending on whose line it would have been. The last line is all his though and he lets it hang in the air as Zoro finishes his guitar too, both perfectly in time with each other as always. 

“Do you ever wonder how you got to here?  
It's just a matter of timing,  
it's not a matter of time, it's just a matter of timing,  
do you ever wonder how you got to here?  
It’s just a matter of timing  
it’s not a matter of time, it’s just a matter of timing,  
Do you ever wonder how you got to here?  
Do you ever wonder how you got to here?”

As always it takes a few seconds after singing with Zoro for Sanji's awareness of the world to stretch out beyond himself and his guitarist, but when it does he notices the silence in the bus. Bonney looks stunned, happy and slightly intimidated whilst the rest of the Straw Hats look slightly smug. Whatever it was that they were supposed to accomplish here Sanji would guess that they accomplished that. 

“Whoa, you two have never played that before?” Bonney gawps in shock. 

“Not all the way through, no. We just wrote it this afternoon.” Zoro says with a casual shrug as he slides his guitar off and carefully straps it back into the wall. 

“Woo! That was fun!” Luffy exclaims happily and bounces out from behind the drum kid.

Bonney is watching Sanji with a carefully assessing look and Sanji can't shake the feeling that getting him to sing was a way to evaluate him. He's not sure from her expression whether he's passed whatever test she had in mind or even what that would mean. 

“I like you, make sure you hold onto this one.” Bonney grins, shifting her gaze from Sanji to Zoro. 

“I was planning on it.” Zoro says amiably. 

“Anyway, we'd better make tracks if we wanna get there for the start of the gig. I'd hate to miss Baby getting her ass handed to her by Kid and Killer.” Bonney laughs, putting her bass guitar in her bag and slinging the bag over her shoulder. Bonney's band members disassemble the drum kit. 

With waved goodbyes and promises to catch up with the other band later Bonney's group departs, putting her gear into the monster trust that she drives and the van that's following it. Nami settles herself into the driver's seat of the Sunny this time and promises that she'll get them there in record time whilst Franky takes the opportunity to stretch out his back and have a nap in one of the beanbags on the upper floor. 

Sanji settles in to one of the bus seats at the front of the top floor of the Sunny and stretches his legs out onto the dash. He knows the names of some of the bands but he's always been far better with faces. Bands on their way to being famous often made their way through the Baratie before getting to the Grand Line tour circuit, so there's a high likelihood that he's seen a lot of these people before even if he's never really met any of them. 

Zoro falls into the seat next to him and stays silent, looking out of the front window. They've got an hour until the show starts and technically Sanji doesn't think that they can make it there in time to be there when it starts, Nami vowed that they would be though and he trusts her judgement. Sanji's thinking that this is a nice comfortable silence between him and the guitarist when Zoro suddenly speaks and Sanji realises that he was the only one who was comfortable and Zoro was just nervously silent. 

“I'm sorry about her, it didn't mean anything and Bonney's always like that and like I said, she's completely not interested so don't-” Zoro babbles only to be cut off by Sanji laughing.

“I hadn't even thought about it since we got on the bus!” Sanji chuckles. 

“What?” Zoro blinks at him in confusion and Sanji realises that this is likely another subtle scar from Baby. He needs to be clear about this then. 

“I don't own you, idiot. Even if she was interested in you, her throwing herself at you like that wouldn't have been your fault either.” He explains calmly. 

“But of course if you insist on making it up to me...” Sanji adds mischievously, leaning into Zoro's space and pressing a kiss to the idiot's cheek. 

“There's we're even.” He smiles against Zoro's skin. 

Zoro's hand comes up and catches in the back of Sanji's hair, tilting his head roughly and bringing their mouths together with significantly more force than Sanji had done to Zoro. Zoro breaks into Sanji's mouth and entirely dominates the kiss, leaving Sanji startled and shaking needily into it. Sanji's hands scrabble shakily against Zoro's t-shirt, desperate for something to hold and to bring the man even closer to him. 

When Zoro breaks the kiss off Sanji moans and tries to lean back into Zoro, he doesn't want to stop kissing him, damnit! But the bastard guitarist just chuckles darkly, setting off a wave of goosebumps down Sanji's spine. The other man gets up in one smooth motion and pulls out of Sanji's reach. He grins down at Sanji who can only look up at him with half lidded and lust clouded vision.

“Good to know, cook.” Zoro says cheerfully and disappears off down the stairs of the Sunny.

“HEY!” Sanji yells after him, annoyed at being teased and then so quickly deprived. 

Seeing that Zoro isn't going to come back Sanji sulks back into his chair and scowls out at the darkness outside the windows.

Before he knows it the Sunny pulls up outside the back of Loguetown, the venue for the first round. Despite being in a bigger vehicle they've actually made it there before the show starts and before Bonney and her group arrive, Nami really is a genius navigator as well as a manager. 

They all disembark from the Sunny and after showing their ID at the back door, they're allowed in on the VIP list, though Chopper is given a big stamp on his hand to indicate that he's underage and so shouldn't be served alcohol. The entire band, including Chopper, get rubber bracelets which are a greenish white and Sanji suspects glow in the dark. The bouncer informs them that they'll get them anywhere within the building as long as they have reason to be there, it also entitles them to free drinks in the venue. 

The venue is big and dark, with layered stands and a smoky atmosphere, behind the bar is the source of that smoke. A grim looking guy with white hair and two large cigars in his mouth angrily serving people drinks. Fittingly his name is Smoker and whilst he doesn't know him directly he does know of him. Smoker thankfully doesn't recognise him when he serves Sanji, sparing the singer the usual small talk of people in the business asking him how his old man is. 

Sanji and Zoro order their drinks at the bar whilst Urogue is on stage, he's pretty good, as is the rest of his band. His whole set reminds Sanji of just how many different genres of music there are competing here, Urogue's band being more electronic than anything else. Sanji can't quite relax though as he's on the look out for Baby and trying to stick close to Zoro. The two of them are both silently tense, waiting for something to go wrong. 

By the time they've finished getting their drinks and made their way into the centre of the venue with the rest of their band it's Law's turn on stage. The venue is set up in a strange mirror pattern so there's a stage at each end of the main room, Urogue and his band on one and Law and his band on the other. Sanji does recognise the man with the tattooed knuckles and dark eyeliner under his eyes, he came through the Baratie at one point and as such Sanji knows his song as he starts it. 

The man has a guitar slung around himself and it appears that he's the lead guitarist of his band as well as the lead singer. The rest of his band all seem to be perfectly in line and in tune with him, more so than Urogue and Sanji gets a feeling that Law's performance is going to be stronger. He'd been good when he perfomed at the Baratie but he's better now. 

“This is the moment that I feared the most,  
Helplessly watching as we turn to ghosts,  
Is it over,  
Tell me if it’s over,  
This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,  
Hopelessly waiting as you turn and run,  
Is it over,  
Is it really over,”

Sanji grins and enjoys the music as it washes over him, this guy is a superior performer to Urogue and looking at Law's opponent he knows it too, even this early in the song. 

“I promised you that I would change,  
Then I broke it in a million ways,  
I alone take the blame,  
While you take everything,  
Why can’t we start this over,  
What have we done to us,  
You say that you need closure,  
Are you just giving up on us,

I refuse to fade away,  
As you try to forget me,  
Take my heart and walk away,  
Like you wish you never met me,”

Law is more than just a singer though, he's a performer too and he's got the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. The way his fingers reach out into the audience Sanji swears that the man could take Sanji's very heart from his chest, it makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He's sure that Law is going to win now, and though that's exciting to watch it just reinforces to Sanji what kind of competition that they're up against here. 

To his side Zoro is dancing to the music, his mouth pulled into a small smile. Sanji can't relax though, there is energy and anxiety throbbing in his veins. If what Bonney said was right Baby ought to be on next with her opponent. Sanji chews at his lip and wonders if Baby is going to try anything tonight. She must know that Zoro got down off of that roof of hers and that his mangled bike was gone when she got back too, she's probably not happy about any of that. Zoro's also not mentioned speaking to her since so he suspects that they haven't done so. 

She must be plotting something. But... surely she won't make a move if he's right there, right? So all he needs to do is to stick to Zoro's side like glue and everything will be fine. Sanji tries to calm himself with that and enjoy the music going on around him. However Law's song has nearly finished.

“I refuse to fade away,  
As you try to forget me,  
Take my heart and walk away,  
Like you wish you never met me,

Like you wish you never met me,  
Like you wish you never met me,  
Like you wish you never met me,  
Do you wish you never met me,”

Law finishes the song with a flourish and holds his guitar up triumphantly as the room explodes in applause and cheering. Smoker's voice booms out through the venue announcing that Law is the winner of that round and will be moving forward in the competition. 

“Next up, Baby 5 versus The Kid Pirates!” Smoker calls out, more applause rings out through the room. 

The lights in the venue snap off, leaving them all in almost complete darkness. A light clicks on in the middle of the stage that Urogue had been on previously, it throws her shadow across the room and exaggerates every curve of her backlit body. 

“What are you up to?” Sanji mutters under his breath. His hand goes to the small of Zoro's back and he can feel how tense the other man is. Around them the rest of their band is glaring at the stage, all bound together in mutual loathing of a woman who's bad deeds they don't even know the half of. 

A guitar starts up, slowly, picking out one note quietly over and over again. Then Baby's voice starts out, oh so powerful and intimidating and for the first time Sanji is actually concerned that he might not be able to beat her in a competition. 

“There's a fire starting in my heart,  
Reaching a fever pitch, it's bringing me out the dark,”

Zoro's muscles jump under Sanji's touch and he hears his friends all suck in startled and angry breaths in unison. They're clearly all getting something out of this song that Sanji isn't. 

“Zoro wrote that!” Nami hisses furiously. 

“You promised...” Zoro's voice says, he sounds so small and so hurt. Even in the dark of the room Sanji can see that Zoro looks far more wounded than Sanji's ever seen him. Worse than when he got in the car after Baby had thrown the vase at his head, worse than when Sanji had rescued him from the roof. Worse than ever. 

He realises that this is Baby's real power over Zoro. Zoro can take Baby physically terrorising him, although he never should have to and Sanji wants to do terrible things because of her doing so. Her real power is that she's worked her way into his heart like the parasite that she is and she has the ability to rip chunks out of him from the inside out whenever she chooses to. Her betrayal rings clear across Zoro's face and Sanji aches inside to see it. 

The lights on stage all snap on to reveal Baby and her band, her eyes are right on Zoro, she knew where he was all along. Her painted black lips curve into a triumphant grin as she leans into her mic and delivers out the next few pitch perfect lines. 

“Finally I can see you crystal clear,  
Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your shit bare,  
See how I leave with every piece of you,  
Don't underestimate the things that I will do,”

Sanji's eyes widen in shock, if Zoro wrote this song... then it was probably from him to her originally. But it sounds almost like it should be a breakup song. Did Zoro try to leave her on his own at one point? Was that what this song was? Whatever the original intent Baby has warped the delivery of this song to sound more like a threat whilst also being a betrayal of Zoro's trust. 

“There's a fire starting in my heart,  
Reaching a fever pitch,  
And it's bringing me out the dark,”

Baby's hand ghosts over her eye and into her hairline as she smirks at Zoro and begins her next lines.

“The scars of your love remind me of us,  
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all,  
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless,”

Sanji growls, how dare she talk about scars to Zoro? She's the one who's marred him all over and yet she's making it sound like she's the one scarred and damaged when it's Zoro who's hurt. Zoro isn't even breathing next to him, he's completely frozen to the spot, staring up at her like a deer in the headlights, not having the sense to bolt before he's run over. 

As Baby begins her next verse the other women on stage with her playing piano and guitar respectively join in backing her with their own vocals. 

“I can't help feeling,  
We could have had it all,  
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)  
Rolling in the deep,  
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)  
You had my heart inside of your hand,  
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)  
And you played it, to the beat,  
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)”

“I'm going to kill her, seriously I'm gonna run her over with the Sunny I don't care if it dents the metal.” Nami hisses. Sanji doesn't think he'd stop her right now, not with how pale Zoro looks. 

“Baby, I have no story to be told,  
But I've heard one of you,  
And I'm gonna make your head burn,  
Think of me in the depths of your despair,  
Make a home down there,  
As mine sure won't be shared,”

“Zoro, we don't have to stay here for this, we can go.” Sanji says into Zoro's ear, pulling him close to be heard over the music. 

“(You're gonna wish you never had met me)  
The scars of your love remind me of us,  
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)  
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all,  
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)  
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless,  
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)  
I can't help feeling,  
We could have had it all,  
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)  
Rolling in the deep,  
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)  
You had my heart inside of your hand,  
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)  
And you played it, to the beat,  
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)  
We could have had it all,  
Rolling in the deep,  
You had my heart inside of your hand,  
But you played it, with a beating,”

Zoro seems to snap. That's the only word that Sanji can think of to explain it. Like an elastic band put under too much stress, stretching until eventually it can't take any more. Sanji feels the growl reverberate through Zoro's body rather than hears it and before Sanji can react Zoro is storming through the crowd to backstage, scattering people in his wake. 

“Throw your soul through every open door,  
Count your blessings to find what you look for,  
Turn my sorrow into treasured gold,  
You'll pay me back in kind and reap just what you sow,  
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)  
We could have had it all,  
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)  
We could have had it all,  
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)  
It all, it all, it all,  
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)”

Baby continues to sing, her eyes on Zoro and a smile curling at the edge of her painted lips. Zoro seemed angry, but he doesn't think that the other man is leaving. He thinks that Zoro's going to confront her. 

Sanji starts to panic, that's not a good idea for either of them. Sure, he could leave it and maybe this will be what finally breaks them up. But maybe instead Zoro will crack and finally attack Baby back when she tries to hurt him. She's manipulative and he's got no doubt that Baby would turn to the police with any injury and claim that Zoro did it. It's not garenteed that the police would believe her, but Sanji is pretty sure that they'd be more inclined to believe that Zoro hit Baby than that Baby's spent years beating the tar out of him. 

He can't let either of those things happen! He has to go after Zoro!

We could have had it all,  
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)  
Rolling in the deep,  
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)  
You had my heart inside of your hand,  
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)  
And you played it to the beat,  
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)

“Hey, wait. Let him go.” Usopp says, grabbing Sanji's arm and holding him back. 

“What? No! He's going to confront her, I know it!” Sanji insists to the long nosed keyboard player. He looks back to where Zoro left but by now he's lost track of the marimo and where he's gone to. Shit!

“Good, him shouting at her will probably give him closure, he's not spoken to her since they broke up. He probably needs this.” Usopp reasons. 

Sanji's jaw drops. Usopp has no idea how wrong he is and he can't possibly tell him, not without betraying Zoro's trust. Sanji looks up at the stage, to Baby completely owning this round on a stolen song. More betrayal is the last thing that Zoro needs.

“Let me go!” Sanji insists and snatches his arm back, darting through the crowd before Usopp can catch him again. 

“We could have had it all,  
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)  
Rolling in the deep,  
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling in the deep)  
You had my heart inside of your hand,  
(You're gonna wish you never had met me)”

Sanji can't see Zoro anymore but he retraces his steps to the backstage area that they'd come in through, a flash of his band member bracelet gets him in but it slows him down. 

“Zoro!” He calls out, but he can neither see nor hear Zoro. 

Sanji's heart is in his throat as he searches for Zoro. He can't let Zoro do this”

“But you played it,  
You played it,  
You played it,  
You played it to the beat”

Baby's stolen song finishes and the audience simply erupts into screaming and cheering. Objectively Sanji feels sorry for whomever it is that has to follow Baby's act because spawn of Satan or not, she is very talented.

Sanji runs from room to room trying to find Zoro but no matter where he looks he can't find the other man. With each passing second Sanji becomes more and more nervous. He heads to the back exit of the venue in time to hear the crowd cheer for Kid and Killer's band. He pauses in the exit and strains his ears. 

“Baby 5 wins!” Smoker's voice says over the din of the crowd.

“SHIT.” Sanji hisses, rushing outside and to the Sunny. Zoro's not in there, or in Sanji's van that's towed behind. 

He panics, running back inside and towards the bar. There are more backstage rooms back this way, but he doesn't think that they're being used, from what he can gather from the layout of the place, those rooms mainly deal with lighting and the audio levels. 

Once past the bouncer on that door he's into the cold concrete of the undecorated walls. Electrical cabling snakes across the floor as he dashes down the corridor, he can't run as fast as he'd like though, he's trying not to trip and break his leg. That'd be a disaster. 

“You promised me!” Zoro's voice yells furiously. 

“Promises don't mean anything to you, so why should they to me?! You promised you'd never abandon me but you've been avoiding me like hell, and you signed up to this competition when I specifically told you not to!” Baby shouts back. Sanji slows his pace, he doesn't want Baby to know that he's coming. If he's going to have to perform a rescue he'd rather he had the opportunity to do it stealthily. 

“Well hey, my songs are being performed here anyway, I might as well perform them myself!” Zoro snarls at her. His voice is louder now as Sanji is closer and he sounds more angry than Sanji has ever heard him before. 

“I'm giving you one last chance to drop out of the competition!” Baby threatens. Sanji leans around the corner and sees the two musicians staring each other down. Zoro has his fists clenched at his sides and he looks like he might genuinely use them on Baby. He watches Zoro's bicep tense, a hint of movement. He can't let Zoro do this, she's trying to bait him, she'll destroy him with it if she can.

“Or else what?” Sanji asks, stepping out from behind the corner and making both of them jump.

“You're in your own band now, and I'm not going to let you coerce my guitarist out of doing what he does best.” Sanji says coldly, stepping closer to the pair. 

“This is none of your business, get lost!” Baby hisses at him. 

“No, I suppose you're right. It's not. But I'm guessing that the organisers of the competition would be interested to hear about you trying to intimidate one of your competitors out of competing. Pretty sure that kind of blatant cheating is against the rules.” Sanji threatens in his most innocent voice. Baby's face pales in shock as the reality of what Sanji is threatening comes to her, all of her chances to win would be gone and her name tarnished probably forever. 

“I mean it.” Baby swears under her breath, her gaze flicking back to Zoro who growls at her like some feral beast. Baby turns on her heel and starts to leave.

“Hey, where do you think you're going? Get-” Zoro shouts, moving for Baby. 

Sanji steps forward, closing the distance between himself and Zoro and putting himself between Zoro and Baby at the same time. He catches Zoro's outstretched arm, just centimetres from grabbing Baby. He presses his face to the side of Zoro's head and whispers right in his hear, his lips grazing Zoro's skin as he does so.

“Don't do it love, it's a trap. Trust me.” He breaths so quiet that no one but Zoro can hear him. 

Zoro's arm relaxes in Sanji's hand and though he can feel the other man still shaking with rage he's not making another move or saying anything.

“I believe you were going?” Sanji says loudly to Baby and is rewarded with the click of her heels as she walks off. 

Zoro pushes back from him, shoving his hands in his own hair tensely and pacing back and forth like a caged tiger. Sanji sighs wearily, he feels drained. 

“I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be interfering. But she was baiting you, if you attacked her she could get you kicked out of the competition at the very least, not to mention dragging your name through the mud and even getting you thrown in jail. I wasn't about to let her do that.” Sanji explains, worried that he might have overstepped his boundaries. Not that he'd had a lot of choice in the matter. 

“I'm not mad at you, I'm angry at myself. She just always knows how to get under my skin and manipulate me, I'm SICK of it!” Zoro snarls furiously, kicking over an empty beer keg that's stored in the small room that Zoro and Baby had seen fit to have their showdown in. Sanji isn't even sure what this room is supposed to be for, some kind of storeroom perhaps?

“It's not your fault.” Sanji reassures him. 

Zoro looks up at him and his look seems to be searching and Sanji doesn't know what it is that Zoro's looking at him like that for. 

“What you said just now...” Zoro says slowly. 

“Ah, where I called you my guitarist? Sorry. I know it sounded kind of possessive but I just wanted to make her leave, piss her off as much as possible. I know you're not mine, you're your own person and I certainly don't own you. Sorry.” Sanji apologises meekly. In truth he had felt possessive then, he'd felt like Baby had no right to be near his Zoro, that she had no right to him at all. But that wasn't right or healthy, he shouldn't think of Zoro like that, he was a human being, not a thing to be owned. 

“No, you called me love. Do you mean... that... you love me?” Zoro asks him quietly, his eyes searching Sanji and seeming to look right into him. 

Sanji jerks and he feels his whole body flush in embarrassment. Shit, he had said that hadn't he? Fuuuuck. 

“I-” Sanji scrambles. 

“You do... don't you?” Zoro says slowly, closing in on Sanji. Sanji's back hits the wall behind him and he panics. He has nowhere to go from here, metaphorically speaking of course. He drops his shoulders in defeat. 

“I... yes. I do. I love you. I just didn't want to-mmph!” Sanji's explanation is interrupted as Zoro shoves him against the wall and covers his mouth with his own. 

Sanji can't do anything but kiss Zoro back, every atom in his body needs this, needs to know that Zoro feels like he does. That he's not just a distraction from the monster in his life that is Baby. He needs to know how Zoro feels and hell, fine if that means that he has to out himself first. Zoro pulls back, face flushed and eyes wide. His body is still pinning Sanji to the wall, his thigh between Sanji's legs feeling goddamn fantastic. 

“I... I love you too Sanji. I know this whole thing is a mess but-” Zoro says, shaking his head in apology.

Sanji doesn't need apologies though, he pulls Zoro's head back towards him and kisses him, hard and insistent. Speaking of hard and insistent Sanji can feel considerably more of Zoro up against him than he usually can. His face is flushed and the teenage part of his brain is insisting that this is a totally fine time to get more acquainted with Zoro. The sane part of him however reminds him that Zoro's girlfriend is still nearby somewhere and she could well come back at any moment, this isn't a position he wants Baby to catch them in. Frankly a dusty disused storeroom isn't where he wants to have these kinds of first experiences with Zoro either. 

Zoro seems to have a similar idea as the guitarist pulls back, though to Sanji's satisfaction he's red faced and breathing hard when he does so. 

“I think we ought to go.” Sanji says breathlessly. 

“Yeah, I don't want to be here.” Zoro agrees and, grabbing Sanji's hand, pulls him back out into the main area of the venue and into the crowd again. 

“Oi, Zoro! Sanji! Where have you two been?” Chopper calls, rushing up to them. 

“Uh...” Zoro replies intelligently. 

“Nevermind, Nami wants to go. None of us particularly want to stick around to hear Baby's victory set, do you?” Chopper asks.

“No way in hell.” Zoro says shaking his head. 

“Well come on then.” Chopper says happily and leads the two of them out of Loguetown and back to the Sunny. 

 

The songs for this chapter were: “Date with the night” by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs. “Timelines” By Motion City Soundtrack. “Wish you never met me” by Papa Roach. “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele (you can also hear Zoro's version of this by Go Radio on youtube),


	17. Chapter 17

Sanji opens his eyes, the dull hotel ceiling stares down at him, stained yellow with years of cigarette smoke and age. A gentle breath on his shoulder makes Sanji look to his side to see Zoro's sleeping face. Last night he and Zoro had returned to the hotel that Nami had booked them all into, tired from their drive and more than a little shaken from their joint encounter with Baby they had just fallen into bed and straight to sleep.

He'd assumed that sleeping with Zoro might be awkward or weird but Zoro had just sighed in resignation when he'd found out that Nami had booked them into the same room, a room with just the one double bed in. Sanji realises now that Zoro is more than used to just giving into the things that Nami decides will be happening, Luffy might be the leader of their little band but he'd be a fool not to realise that Nami was the real power behind the throne.

Sanji shifts over onto his side and looks at Zoro's sleeping face, he examines the almost healed cut over Zoro's eye and finds a well of rage bubble up inside of himself. Baby is trying to stop Zoro from competing in this competition, whether it's out of spite or in an effort to convince him to join her band he doesn't know, but either way it's standing in the way of all of their dreams and hurting Zoro. Sanji would sooner die than let her do that.

Zoro sighs in his sleep and Sanji slides silently out of bed and into his jeans, it's not fair to wake Zoro up with a face full of smoke, so he'll be considerate and go smoke outside. Because it's cold outside he puts on his shirt and coat, patting down the pockets for his cigarettes and lighter.

It's about seven am right now and the early morning light is Sanji's only company as he lights up his first smoke of the morning. His body clock is telling him to get up and cook for the others, it's not smart enough to know that he doesn't have to do that today. They're probably all going to go out for breakfast, of course Sanji could cook them better food at home, but he supposes it doesn't matter if it's just for a while.

He blows smoke into the cool morning air and thinks about how he's going to keep Baby away from Zoro. Maybe he should seek her out himself and tell her to back off? That would probably end poorly for everyone though. He taps ash off of the end of his smoke and thinks a little more. It would be better if he could just get the others involved somehow, but he can't disclose Zoro's secret to them, Zoro would never forgive him and he would probably never forgive himself either.

The thing is, he doesn't know how to predict Baby. He doesn't know her well enough. He doesn't know if she's rational enough to have a game plan here, if she’s decided how long she'll put up with Zoro competing before she'll try something crazy or if it just depend on how crazy she actually is at any given moment? Is she cold and calculating or just violent and angry? He's seen both sides to her, she's certainly cunning and manipulative but equally she's hotheaded and vengeful.

He'd originally wanted to keep his relationship with Zoro quiet for Zoro's sake, so that Baby didn't freak out and do something that they'd all regret, but right now he's glad that he did it from a more self-centred level. Who knows what Baby might do to him if she found out that he and Zoro were together, and sleeping in the same bed no less. At least they hadn't actually had sex yet, not that Baby would listen to that sort of reason.

If Baby were to attack him... could he defend himself?

He knows that Zoro hasn't ever properly defended himself from Baby to the level of fighting back because Zoro still cares for her, and Zoro doesn't hurt those that he loves. He's also probably sensibly frightened that Baby would use any harm to herself as blackmail against Zoro. But if Baby attacked him would Sanji be able to fight back?

His bare toes curl on the cold hallway concrete as he stares down numbly at the empty hotel pool. The thought of hurting a woman in any way is so against the fibre of his very being that the idea just clangs discordantly in his mind. But what if Zoro was in danger? What if Baby held Zoro's very life in her hands and only he could stop her? Could he really abstain?

Sanji's mouth runs dry as he imagines Zoro being dangled off of this very hotel hallway come balcony, they're a good two floors above the concrete of the poolside below. If Baby was here right now and she was going to drop Zoro and the only way that Sanji could rescue him was to attack her, to hurt her... could he?

Sanji's heart clenches painfully at the idea of Zoro in danger like that, he'd rather be in Zoro's place than ever see that happen to him. But that's not the choice being offered here. Would he hurt Baby to save Zoro?

He... he honestly doesn't know. But he loves Zoro so much that he thinks that... that he might.

Sanji curls over, pressing his shaking form to the metal railing. He'd sworn that he'd never hurt a lady, that he'd never be the cause of any dainty creature to shed a tear of fear or pain. How can he hold that belief true and still be willing to do just that? Is everything that he knew about himself wrong?

No. It's just... he'd never accounted for this possibility. He'd never considered that a woman could hurt someone like Zoro, someone who was so strong and capable, someone who knew their own mind so well and someone who was so driven. Sanji has no doubt that everyone else probably holds that view too. If someone had pulled him aside right after he met Zoro and told him what was going on between Zoro and Baby, he'd probably have laughed in their face in disbelief. Victims of things like this didn't look like Zoro. Worse still, if someone had told him that about Zoro right after they first met he probably would have said Zoro must have deserved it. Zoro had seemed so brutish and angry then, he was so rough and mean, his demeanour cold and heartless. The old Sanji would have said that Zoro didn't deserve someone as beautiful as Baby and if she hurt him then it was probably his own fault, after all, he'd all but applauded when he'd seen that video of Baby slapping Zoro on stage.  
God, he was a horrible person then, he probably still is. Thank goodness he knows better now.

But Zoro has been hurt by her. He's seen the bruises and scars, he's mended the cuts and seen the psychological damage that Baby has wrought. Zoro deserved none of it, no one ever did, but Zoro especially didn't. If Zoro was cold it was because he just wasn't an especially bubbly person, and after all he's been through Sanji can hardly blame him for not wanting another singer right away or for being slow to warm to him. Nami had been right too, Zoro's gruff exterior was just that, the outside. Inside Zoro was fiercely loyal and protective, he was also surprisingly sweet and caring, he'd seen Zoro with Usopp and Chopper. The guy was a big, angry faced, foul mouthed, immature, oblivious, adoring, wonderful, gentle, idiot. And right now Sanji was lucky enough to call Zoro his idiot.

Uh... boyfriend. That was the word. Not idiot. Well, maybe both.

Sanji turns to look over his shoulder at the door of their room. Zoro is in there sleeping soundly. He remembers Zoro's calm sleeping face and the still healing cut over his eye. Zoro was so stupidly lucky to still have that eye, he could easily have lost it. Sanji can't let this happen to Zoro again, but he can't protect him alone.

He turns on his heel and walks along, noting the numbers on the room doors as he passes them one by one. Coming to the right room he raises his hand and raps gently on the door with his knuckles. After a few moments Robin opens the door slightly, though wider when she sees that it's him there.

“Sanji, come in.” Robin says, stepping aside for him. She's up and dressed already, Robin is very much an early riser just like him. He's often met her downstairs at home when he's gotten up to prepare breakfast for everyone.

“Robin, was that the- oh, Sanji.” Nami exclaims, walking from the bathroom dressed but barefoot and with still wet hair.

“How do we knock Baby out of the competition? How can I beat her?” Sanji asks, sparing a thought for the unfortunate turn of phrase.

Nami and Robin both smile, slow and sinister mirrors of each other. Robin sits down on the foot of her bed, crosses her legs and watches him with her catlike Cheshire grin. 

“I saw what her singing Zoro's song did to him last night, she can't- I won't let her win.” Sanji adds, by way of explanation. It's partially true at least, he can't stand the idea of losing to her especially if she's going to try to win whilst singing songs that aren't even hers. It's hardly the full story, but it will have to do.

“I'm glad to see you coming around to our way of thinking, Sanji. She's absolutely the worst person I've ever met.” Nami says, combing through her wet hair with a glance in the mirror.

“I'd thought at first that she was okay, just misunderstood perhaps. Maybe just a girl who made some stupid mistakes but... no, she's just pure evil.” he says tightly as images of Zoro's bruises flash behind Sanji's eyes.

“What changed your mind?” Robin asks him.

Sanji keeps his face under control, this is dangerous. Robin is smart and perceptive, very much so. He can't let either of them know about what really changed his mind, about seeing what has happened to Zoro but equally he will never let Zoro be hurt again and he can't promise that alone. He can't violate Zoro's trust. Sure he could argue that it's for Zoro's own good, that Zoro shouldn't be keeping a secret like this and that his friends can help and support him. All of those are true, but it's not his secret to divulge and he won't do that to Zoro, not unless there was some kind of immediate danger and he has to.

So, secrecy.

“I'd have to be oblivious not to realise, wouldn't I? I'd wanted to see the best in her but...” he trails off and shrugs. Convincing, not a quick or thought through answer, it sounds natural. He hates how duplicitous this feels but he has no choice.

“Zoro thinks you're a better singer than her Sanji, and I'm inclined to agree.” Nami says, thankfully diverting the subject slightly.

“I- well thank you, my flower.” Sanji says, blushing with the praise. He can't deny that Baby is musically gifted, hearing her last night was both terrible and incredible. She has a voice to be reckoned with and Sanji isn't looking forward to actually facing her with his own.

“You're concerned that she knows it too.” Robin says slowly, as if the idea is just occurring to her.

“She's heard me sing already, she knows what I can do.” he agrees with a nod. She had snuck into his first gig with Zoro after all.

“If she's really threatened then she's not going to play fair, not that she tends to play fair anyway.” Nami sighs.

“But what can she do? I mean, I know about Smoker and he doesn't seem like the kind of man you can bribe to sway a contest like this and I know both of the other judges and hosts of the contest too, I'm sure that none of them would ever allow that kind of thing. They'd kick her from the contest.” he says. No way would Iva or Shakky ever take a bribe from someone like Baby.

“I don't know. Damaging her opponent's performance is more likely, we'll need to keep a tight lockdown on the instruments and make sure that no one but us can go near the equipment when it's us performing. As for whomever else Baby goes up against... that's their lookout. It's not our job to protect the other acts, they're our competition too after all.” Nami says eventually.

“Yes, after all we don't even know if we'll ever be matched up against Baby, someone else could well knock her out before we get to her.” Robin notes thoughtfully.

“I'd like to knock her out.” Nami mutters, glaring into the mirror and brushing her hair again angrily. Sanji suspects that Nami doesn't mean knocking her out of the competition.

“What? But it's still cheating even if she's not cheating us! Surely we can't let her-” He starts to protest.

“We have our own problems to worry about, Sanji. Like what songs we're going to play, we need to play to the best of our strengths. The songs that go best with the mood of the crowd and the competition as well as playing up our talents and minimising our flaws. I'll work on a setlist that can't be beat, don't worry.” Nami reassures him and turns on her hairdryer, effectively ending the conversation.

“If we need you, we'll let you know.” Robin says smoothly, patting his shoulder whilst steering him out of the room.

“See you in half an hour for breakfast Sanji, bye.” Robin adds and shuts the door behind him. Sanji blinks at the shut wood of the door in confusion. He's not quite sure what just happened there or if it was especially helpful to him. He sighs and heads back to his shared room with his thoughts weighing heavily in his mind. He feels so responsible. He has to perform well tonight or everyone's dreams will be at risk, he has to protect Zoro or else he'll get hurt again, he has to win the competition or else he'll let everyone down. It's all so much pressure.

He lets himself in the room and leans against the door as it shuts behind him. Zoro is still in bed, his bare arm reaching over to the side of the bed that Sanji had been sleeping in. Slowly golden brown eyes open up and blink at him lazily.

“What're you doing up already, cook?” Zoro rumbles sleepily, rolling onto his back and rubbing at his eyes, his hand careful around the healing cut.

Perhaps it's something about the way that the light shines in through the cheap hotel curtains and tints Zoro's bronze skin a slightly darker shade or perhaps it's just the relaxed look on Zoro's face but Sanji's heart thumps in his chest and his legs move him across the room. He drops his coat from his shoulders and climbs onto the bed on his knees. He leans down and presses the faintest of kisses to Zoro's slightly parted lips.

“I love you.” He breathes, like it's a promise. He supposes that it is, he's promising to do his best for Zoro, no matter what.

“That's not an answer to the question.” Zoro huffs irritably and pulls Sanji down onto the bed. The sleepy man rolls on top of him, pinning him to the mattress before sprawling across him like some oversized cat. Zoro works his head into the crook of Sanji's neck and smiles against the skin.

“You're all cold from being outside.” he notes, warm breath ghosting over Sanji's skin.

The blonde lets his hands wander up Zoro's back, he's wearing a far too small and entirely threadbare ACDC t-shirt that Sanji suspects he's had since he was far younger and is too sentimental to throw away. His fingers trace over old scars on the man's skin.

He doesn't ask Zoro how he got them and Zoro doesn't offer him an explanation, they just lay there in silence with Zoro on top of him.

“I'm nervous about tonight.” Sanji admits in the quietest voice possible. He's almost not sure that Zoro has heard him until the other man pushes himself up on his hands and knees and looks down at Sanji.

“Be as nervous as you like now, just be calm when we're up there.” Zoro tells him as if it's just as simple as that.

“I can't just switch it off like that!” he protests with a scowl.

“You've got nothing to worry about.” the guitarist laughs easily.

“Sure I do! Baby is gonna be pissed at us and she's going to try something, I'm sure of it! And what if I let everyone down today, what if I choke? I've seen it happen I just-” Sanji is cut off when Zoro leans down and silences him with a kiss. Sanji tries to pull away and protest and list the reasons for being nervous but each time he tries Zoro follows him and kisses him again. Eventually Sanji isn't breathing hard from panic but rather another reason entirely.

“There's nothing you can do about that shit, so don't think about it. Deal with it when it comes.” Zoro breathes, kissing Sanji's neck. The feel of Zoro's lips right over his pulse draws a moan from Sanji's lips, a breathy little thing, but the noise seems to please Zoro.

Zoro's left hand flicks open the buttons on Sanji's shirt one by one and soon enough calloused fingertips are brushing their rough texture over the soft skin of Sanji's skin and across the planes of his ribs. He whines loudly, the teasing touches are so light on his skin and so paradoxically gentle for Zoro. He thinks about those callouses on Zoro's fingertips, they've built up from years of playing his guitars and now instead Zoro's playing his body just the same.

“Oh!” He gasps out, squeezing his eyes shut tight as Zoro's fingers ghost along the line of his hip.

“Hmm, I've always liked your voice, you know.” Zoro purrs in Sanji's ear, making him squirm in delight.

“Yeah, well. You're not so bad yourself.” he replies a little breathlessly.

“Feeling a little less nervous now?” Zoro questions with a grin before diving down to bite hard on Sanji's hipbone.

“Oh, SHIT!” Sanji yelps, his nerves snapping his hips up as a flash of sensation sparks on the skin of his hipbone. Zoro had found some place on him that he's sensitive that no one else had ever found on him, Sanji hadn't even known it was there. He gasps and wonders if Zoro and him ever split up if he'll forever think of that place as Zoro's. He doesn't want to consider it, he wants to focus on Zoro, nothing else.

“What, are you telling me you're just doing this to distract me?” He asks instead, turning his mind to Zoro's question instead of his own thoughts.

“Yeah, I'm a real saint like that.” the guitarist chuckles deeply and bites Sanji's skin again, making him squeak and his body jerk under Zoro's mouth.

A loud banging at the door makes Sanji curse and sit up, dislodging Zoro. He fumbles and tucks his shirt back in, doing up the buttons hastily as he walks quickly to the door. Zoro groans and throws the covers over himself again, rolling onto his side away from the door.

He opens the door still slightly flustered and, he's sure, red faced. Franky and Usopp are both at the door with a bleary eyed looking Luffy in tow.

“Morning. Sorry to disturb the both of you.” Franky laughs filthily, his eyes flicking to Zoro who is still in bed.

“As long as you're not walking around in Speedos again then I'm not disturbed.” Zoro answers without lifting his head from the mattress.

“We're going for breakfast, I'm gonna go get the girls and then we'll head out on foot, ok? There's this SUPER place down the road. Get dressed Zoro!” Franky adds that last part as a yell over Sanji's shoulder. Zoro waves the man away and Sanji shuts the door.

“Get out of bed.” Sanji orders, stepping up to the edge of the bed. Being tangled up with Zoro had been so nice but he did have that promise to himself about not sleeping with Zoro to keep.

“Are you sure I can't convince you to come back to bed?” Zoro asks with a lecherous grin, rolling over and looking up at Sanji. Sanji scowls, Zoro certainly could, but they'd never make breakfast if he gave in. Dinner might even be uncertain if he agreed to that. As a reply instead he whips the sheet off of Zoro and lifts the cheap hotel mattress up, tipping it enough to slide Zoro off onto the floor with a thump.

“That's a no then?” Zoro asks from the floor with a laugh.

“Wonderful deduction, I'm gonna go smoke outside.” Sanji huffs and stomps out of the door, his body sulking at his mind's decision as much, if not more, than Zoro is. He leans on the railing again and breathes in a lungful of smoke and fiddles with his lighter, anything to distract him from the temptation to go back inside and say to hell with breakfast.

Eventually Zoro comes out of the room with a smudge of toothpaste still at the corner of his mouth and his hair still damp from what must have been the world's quickest shower. He's wearing a dark blue tank top and black jeans with his bandana tied around his bicep, perplexingly he also has goggles in his hair.

“Hey, idiot. I don't know if you noticed, but the shitty pool down there doesn't have any water in to swim in, so you don't need goggles.” Sanji points out, jerking his thumb down to the empty pool below them which currently is only collecting dead autumn leaves.

“They're not swimming goggles, obviously.” Zoro snorts at him.

“BREAKFAST!” Luffy yells, barreling past the two of them and dragging the others some distance behind him. As their bandmates file past them he and Zoro eventually join the back of the group and follow them along to wherever this apparently super restaurant is.

“So just what kind of goggles are they then?” Sanji asks, resuming their conversation.

“They're loser goggles, very useful.” Zoro says, entirely deadpan.

“What? What the hell are loser goggles?! Or is it just because they make you look like a loser?” Sanji snorts in disbelief.

“You wish you looked as cool as me. But look, check it out.” Zoro says seriously and pulls the goggles down over his eyes.

“This way I can't see losers, they filter them out and-oh no! Sanji! Where have you gone? I can't see you!” Zoro yells loudly, waving his arms around in Sanji's direction and looking around madly as if he can't find him.

Sanji smacks his palm into his forehead, he walked into that one. He then reconsiders just who should be getting smacked here and instead shoves his hand into Zoro's face and smushes his goggles back up on top of his head. This results in a rather enthusiastic round of bickering, shoving and elbowing which continues until they're seated at the restaurant, at which point he and Zoro sit next to each other and kick each other under the table as if they were six or something. He knows he should be more mature than this but Zoro is just so much fun to wind up, he can't help himself.

After a rather messier and considerably more expensive breakfast than Nami was anticipating the band gathers inside the Sunny on the top floor. The all sit down in a circle like it's some kind of boyscout pow-wow and Sanji almost can't restrain himself from laughing at the weirdness, he almost feels like he should be holding his neighbours hands or something!

“I think the best plan is to have an agreed menu of songs that we're happy to play tonight, practice them and then pick which we're going for on the night, read the room as it were.” Nami suggests calmly.

“We don't know who we're going up against I guess.” Luffy says with a thoughtful nod.

“Well it's either gonna be Bonney, Scratchman or Drake so we need a list that can counter them.” Usopp says sagely.

“But do we go for new songs or old songs? Old songs are safer but the new ones are fresh, but perhaps riskier...” Chopper muses quietly.

“We need a mix, something we haven't performed lately would be good too.” Robin chips in.

Between them they sort out a potential setlist, both new and old songs. They sort the songs by speed, mood and meaning. Sanji personally wants to include all of the songs that Zoro ever wrote when he was talking about how horrible Baby could be, just to shove it in her face and make her take the goddamn hint that Zoro didn't want her anymore! Without being able to state that specifically though he gets overruled on several of them.

They all agree that it ought to be a joint call on the night which song they play, but agree that if one of them launches into a song then they've committed to it and need to play it. That way if they need to react quickly they can. Sanji doesn't know who he wants to go up against, he thinks that Zoro would rather not go up against Bonney, it must be hard competing against a friend. Seeing as he also said that Bonney was the only person who could give Sanji a run for his money with her voice he finds himself a little reluctant to face her too.

Between practicing their chosen list and stopping for food the day burns through alarmingly quickly. Before Sanji knows it they're at the venue unloading their equipment and setting everything up ready for them to go on stage. Nami and Robin are both vigilant about ensuring that their equipment is never ever left unattended, just in case Baby has it in mind to try anything.

Sanji finds that he's in the way more often than not, he doesn't have an instrument of his own to unpack and trying to help Luffy set up his drum kit ends up being less helpful as apparently the typically haphazard drummer is quite particular about his insane drum set up. Sanji just slinks off to the edge of the stage and sucks throat sweets and tries not to have a panic attack as the other musicians from the rival bands come in and do much the same. Smoker had directed them to which stage they were at but not who was playing whom. They have an idea though, they're set up on the same stage as the band whose lead singer and guitarist is named Drake. Zoro assures him quietly that he's good but hasn't got a great vocal range and relies more on powerful chords than intricate arrangements of notes. His work was very enjoyable though.

Sanji figures then, by process of elimination that they're either going up against Bonney or against a guy who Sanji recognises but whose name he doesn't remember.

“I know him, I think he played at the Baratie once...” Sanji whispers to Robin who is also sat on the edge of the stage with him.

“That's Scratchman Apoo.” Robin explains, gesturing subtly to the main with the long bobbed braid and dark skin. He recognises the name and feels a little bad for forgetting it in the first place.

“Alright you lot, come over here and listen because I don't want to repeat myself.” Smoker yells, striding into the middle of the room. Zoro walks to the edge of the stage and drops down to lean against it next to Sanji his warm bare skin warming Sanji even through his shirt. The rest of the bands all gather around Smoker who is still emitting an obscene amount of smoke from his two cigars.

“This oughta be a fair competition, I take a dim view on people breaking my rules. You're already set up on stage with another band, don't touch their shit. If I catch you- and I will- you'll be kicked from this competition so fast it'll make your head spin, I've already done it to another band and I won't hesitate to do it again.” Smoker warns, glaring at them all.

“Another band?” Luffy asks curiously.

“Blackbeard, I caught him trying to sneak a look at tonight's line up and alter who was facing who. He's been disqualified, so you know I'm serious.” Smoker warns.

“Well shit.” Sanji remarks in surprise.

“Never liked the troublemaking bastard anyway, good riddance!” Bonney declares loudly.

“Shut your yaps, I'm talking!” Smoker snarls at her, even though obviously he wasn't talking and has absolutely no right to speak to a lady like that!

“Right, Bonney your lot are performing first and Drake is against you afterwards. After that it's Scratchman and Luffy's band of miscreants last. Winner gets to do a victory song at the end of their pair. After the set get the hell off stage and let the next group go on or at the end of the night clear out back and then come and collect your shit when the venue is empty about half an hour afterwards, I don't want your shit here overnight. Everyone got it?” Smoker says sharply, looking around at them as if they might have some kind of disagreement to the idea.

The groups split up their separate ways and Sanji starts getting this antsy nervous kind of feeling in the pit of his stomach. He's used to performing, sure. But at the Baratie he'd have almost no notice and he'd be so busy learning his lines and listening to what he was supposed to be doing that he didn't have time to panic, and if he had any free time he'd spend it working. This sitting around whilst everyone else gets their instruments ready is driving him crazy.

He tries to listen to the songs that they might play tonight, but he knows them all back to front and inside out and he's too antsy to focus. Zoro seems to be busy chatting with Bonney whilst they both tune their respective guitars, he doesn't really want to interrupt.

“Hey, Luffy. I'm gonna go out for a smoke.” Sanji says, looking up at their leader on the stage. He needs something to calm his nerves down and a smoke might just do the trick. He slides his smokes out of his jacket pocket, holds one between his lips and replaces the packet. He knows the way out to the back alley where the Sunny is parked, goodness knows he helped haul enough music shit through it today.

He shuts the door behind him and pats himself down for a lighter.

“Need a light?” Baby's voice says suddenly.

Sanji jumps and turns to see her lurking by the back door, just out of sight for anyone coming out. He narrows his eyes at her, he'll bet any amount of money that it wasn't him that she was waiting for. She must have been trying to catch Zoro on his own.

Baby's wearing a skintight dark red dress but she's got a black leather jacket on over it, she puts her dainty hand in the pocket and pulls out a lighter, flicking the flame on and holding it out. Sanji doesn't like the idea of the girl that nearly cut Zoro's eye out with a knife putting fire near his hair and face, not one bit.

“I'm good.” He answers flatly, pulling out his own lighter from his pocket and lighting up. He notices that Baby herself is already smoking too, he hopes that it kills her voice.

“This is an awful long way for you to come for a smoke, especially as you're not performing tonight.” He says as coldly as he can manage.

Baby eyes him suspiciously before flicking the ash from her cigarette off casually.

“It's a free country isn't it?” she sighs and flicks her hair.

“Sure. But last I checked stalking and harassment weren't legal. So like I said last night, if you're here to harass Zoro I suggest you reconsider.” Sanji could name a whole bunch of other laws that Baby's broken beyond those, domestic violence laws for one, probably some form of kidnapping for locking him on the roof and vandalism for his bike. He's not going to mention those though.

The two of them stare each other down. Sanji finds all of his usual instincts about women strangely absent, there's no voice in his head being mortified for vaguely threatening a lady or for being rude to one. Instead he's looking at her and all he sees is the crazed, wild eyed psycho that hurts Zoro.

“I told you they would all turn you against me, I actually thought that you were a nice person when I first met you.” Baby says angrily. Her expression looks both hurt and angry and Sanji wonders if she's consciously manipulating him or if she actually believes that she's the good guy here.

“I guess people aren't always as nice as you think they are when you first meet them. I'm plenty good to the people I care about, much less so to those who are a threat to them. You're not going to convince Zoro to drop out of this competition.” He answers slowly.

Baby looks livid, her fists are clenched angrily and she looks so furious that she almost might punch him. He doesn't care if she tries, he'll move out of the way or better yet use it as grounds to get Smoker to kick her out of the competition.

Suddenly she seems to relax and her mouth curls into a mean smile as she leans back a little and folds her arms in a way that usually would distract Sanji with what it's doing to her chest. But again, strangely it's getting no reaction from him.

“You seem pretty possessive of Zoro for a guy who's sung like... one gig with him. He's not exactly the most easy guy to work with you know, he's moody and temperamental. What makes you think he's going to keep you around after this competition?” Baby sneers.

Sanji tilts his head, she's trying to take a stab at their relationship, to needle her way in and find the weak spots. She thinks that they're just bandmates after all, she's got no idea about how much Zoro has confided in him or just how much of a relationship they're in. Sanji has plenty of things he can be insecure about with Zoro, but the idea of Zoro using him just for a competition was laughable. He's worried about his relationship with Zoro where Baby is concerned but professionally he and Zoro are rock fucking solid, he knows that neither of them have ever had a connection like that with anyone else. She's just fishing.

“You seem pretty possessive over a guy who's just your ex, I mean you kept showing up at his work and pitching a fit and now you're lurking out here waiting for him.” he returns with a grin. There's no way Baby can contradict him, they spoke at Zoro's coffee shop so she can hardly say that she wasn't there and unless she feels like telling him that Zoro isn't her ex then she's stuck. Still it's amazingly satisfying to watch that all play out over her face.

“Does the fact that he's my ex bother you? It must suck to be constantly living in my shadow, huh?” she responds nastily. Now that strikes a nerve. Sanji bites down hard on his cigarette and feels it split in his mouth. Baby's triumphant grin tells him that she just read his reaction loud and clear.

“Stay away from us.” Sanji grits out and flicks his ruined cigarette into the alley as he turns to leave. He shuts the door fast behind him, making sure that Baby can't follow him inside. He fists his hands in his hair and curses himself for engaging Baby in any kind of conversation at all. Zoro is right, she always gets under the skin and fucks with your mind. He has nothing to be worried about with Zoro at all, she's just trying to drive them apart. Well, she won't succeed.

Sanji balls his fists tightly, he wants to punch something. He won't of course because he doesn't want to hurt himself and it won't solve anything. Something sick and nasty curls in his gut and he wants revenge. Sure, he's a good person, but he's not always nice. He wasn't lying when he said to Baby that he's not nice to people who threaten those he cares about. He's even less nice to people threatening those that he loves and god does he ever love Zoro.

She had chosen that song last night for the joint purposes of winning and for hurting Zoro, he's sure of it. No way that was an accident. Well, two can play at that game. Zoro's written a lot of songs over the years and a fair few about her. They're mainly obscure songs about love actually hurting a whole lot but not that many calling Baby out for being the bitch that she is. There's one that Zoro was still in the process of writing, the fabled second song that came out of his demand that Zoro write a song about what Baby feels for him, the one that generated The Horror of Our Love. Zoro refuses to share that one with him though, he claims that it's not finished, at any rate they haven't practiced it enough to play that.

He pauses in the hallway and imagines the look on Baby's face if Zoro was to play a song blatantly about her that was less than positive. It'd be perfect. Thankfully he has allies in the Baby hate-club and he knows full well that they'll be more than up for wrecking her shit. He should probably be worried about his startling lack of conscience, perhaps Baby's psychopathy is rubbing off on him. He can't bring himself to care though.

Nami and Robin are talking quietly together at the bar when Sanji comes in to find them. He leans in towards them and both of them look up at him curious and slightly surprised as to his sudden appearance. Zoro is across the other side of the room, no longer tuning his guitar but instead casually chatting with Bonney. He's occupied enough.

“Ladies, I need some revenge.” He says quietly, his eyes trained on Zoro just in case Zoro's ears start burning or something.

“On whom? You just went out for a smoke a few minutes ago, what could have possibly happened?” Nami questions him with a suspicious look.

“I wasn't the only person out there, our least favourite person was skulking around and I'm about nine thousand percent sure that it wasn't me she was hoping to catch alone.” He says in a low voice. Both Nami and Robin suddenly turn icy cold with anger.

“What do you have in mind?” Robin enquires, her own gaze trailing to the happily oblivious guitarist.

“Remember how she chose a song just to fuck with him? Well I'm thinking of doing the same. I can do a lot with inflection.” Sanji says, bristling with the mere memory.

“What song did you have in mind? You're not planning on writing one are you because it's far too short notice.” Nami frowns.

“Elektra's Complex.” Sanji answers simply.

“Oh... that's good.” Robin smiles slowly.

“So you want us to, what, be unethical and stack the deck in terms of voting for a song in your favour so that you can carry out some petty revenge against your boyfriend's ex without said boyfriend knowing about it and yet making him complicit anyway?” Nami asks, staring hard at Sanji.

Well, gee, when she says it like that it sounds really fucking awful doesn't it? It makes Sanji feel a swell of doubt about this. Is he taking advantage of Zoro's trust here? Is he suddenly the kind of guy who is a dick to women? It's so not who he thinks he is but... but he's doing this because someone he loves is hurt and nothing makes him angrier than that.

“I like it.” Nami says with a wide grin, showing all of her teeth. Sanji hopes it's not ungentlemanly to think that her smile could be classed as predatory. God, perhaps Zoro is rubbing off on him. Sanji's brain sharply connects the ideas of “rubbing off” and “Zoro” and his higher brain functions shut down for all of thirty seconds and he misses the end of the conversation.

“Consider it done.” Robin agrees.

 

Nami and Robin are clearly gifts from god. Aside from their radiant beauty which is evident to anyone with eyes, their glorious curved female forms are a delight to even think about, let alone behold. The mere thought alone is enough to make his heart race. However, what he loves most about them is just how insanely clever and cunning they are, they're all gathered in their own dressing room and Nami and Robin are subtly convincing everyone that Elektra's Complex is the song that they need to play.

“Are you sure? I don't like that one much.” Zoro says, the corners of his mouth pulling down as he glances out of the glass window in the door. Sanji fixes his hair in the mirror instead of replying to that, he knows that Zoro doesn't like it because it makes him think of Baby. Zoro is perfectly entitled to think about his girlfriend or not to think about her all he likes, but so is Sanji.

“You're not gonna be the one singing it though are you?” Nami points out reasonably.

“You just don't like it because it's about her.” Nami adds a little sharply.

“No shit.” Zoro says flatly, glaring Nami down. Sanji's knee-jerk reaction is to step in and stop Zoro being a dick to Nami but Nami has got this, besides, if he intervenes they might not end up doing the song. But still, he hates the way that Zoro is glaring Nami down, it's just so wrong to treat a lady like that.

“It was a perfect song about her though. Baby was smart but she wasted it all trying to be who she thought would sell best, it was all about being rich and famous for her. And it just showed what she'd be like if her music career fell through, that's why it was so brilliant.” Franky chips in thoughtfully.

“We never even put that one on an album though, it's not like it's a popular song.” Zoro adds in protest.

“It's only not on an album because you never wanted it on one, you said the song was mean.” Usopp points out from his place on the cheap beaten up leather sofa in the dressing room.

“It is mean, and a bad idea.” Zoro argues back, turning his gaze from the door to look sternly at Usopp. Sanji thinks that he'll let the keyboard player work this one out on his own.

“She already broke up with you, how much worse can it get?” Usopp challenges in a rare moment of bravery.

Sanji's eyes widen in the mirror and he keeps perfectly still. Zoro growls under his breath and turns sharply back towards the door, refusing to continue the conversation.

“Come on Zoro, you and Sanji haven't played that one together! You two could have fun with it when you play it instead of just repeating it! It'll be fun!” Luffy says with a happy bounce as he pulls his clean t-shirt on over his head for the show which is starting in twenty minutes or so.

“That could be fun actually.” Sanji agrees honestly and turns to Zoro. It means that he can make the lyrics sound that much more pointed without Zoro being too suspicious about him.

“Fine, whatever.” Zoro shrugs and turns his gaze back out the window in the door. Sanji pouts and walks over to Zoro, putting his chin on Zoro's shoulder and following his gaze out of the window.

“It sounds like it's getting full out there.” He says softly.

“Yeah.” Zoro agrees.

“You seem a lot less nervous now.” Zoro adds, reaching his hand up and brushing it into Sanji's hair. It's pathetic but Sanji practically melts at the touch. Zoro's fingers run over his scalp and Sanji can feel Zoro's earrings against his cheek. He loves him so badly.

“I've got other things on my mind.” Sanji answers softly. He supposes that if Baby wasn't so awful he ought to thank her, he's not thinking about how he's going to do tonight or whether they're going to win. He just wants to do his best and to get revenge. His hands tighten a little on Zoro's hips at the thought, he was going to give her a taste of just what she'd done to him.

Zoro seems to interpret his touch and his response differently though because he just snorts quietly and mutters 'pervert' under his breath.

“That's not what I meant!” Sanji squeaks in protest but Zoro just laughs at him, clearly not buying his excuse.

“Come on, let's go out there. I need to wait in line for my spot on the sound set.” Chopper pipes up and with that the whole band meanders out onto the venue floor.

There are enough people in there now that they don't get instantly recognised, most are paying attention to the stage that Bonney and her band are going to be on. Even so most of the rest of the band are recognised within the audience by people near them and Franky has a couple of girls with strangely shaped hair come up to him and start asking him for his autograph. To Sanji's stunned surprise people even recognise him, he's not really had to come face to face with the fact that he and the rest of the band are minor celebrities now.

He looks around the room and sees the shock of long black hair that is typical of Baby. The thick curls are distinctive enough to give her away, she's stalking a little way behind them but her eyes are firmly trained on Zoro. Sanji makes obvious eye contact with her and she scowls at him. He lets it go and turns his attention back to Bonney who has just walked on stage. He's sure that it's no coincidence that Nami is on Zoro's other side and Robin is subtly making her way through the crowd towards Baby. Baby however seems to have no desire to run into her and the two are playing a very slow and crowded game of cat and mouse behind the ever oblivious Zoro.

“Sup everyone, I'm Bonney and this is 'I'm So Sick'.” Bonney says, slinging her bass over her shoulder and then without further ado launching straight into her song. It starts off bassy with her guitar and then she starts to sing, high and sweet at first.

“I will break into your thoughts  
With what's written on my heart”

Sanji tilts his head curiously, he'd thought this kind of thing wasn't quite her style.

“I will break, break!”

Bonney screams out her lines and Sanji's whole body jerks in shock. He's heard guys in metal bands do that before, but never a girl, he didn't know that women's voices could do that! It's a really raw and powerful sound though and it doesn't sound uncontrolled at all. Sanji's not sure that he could do that himself and he's kind of in awe at her right now.

“Told you she was good.” Zoro leans over and shouts into Sanji's ear right as Bonney begins her chorus.

“I'm so sick,  
Infected with where I live  
Let me live without this  
Empty bliss,  
Selfishness  
I'm so sick  
I'm so sick!”

Bonney's voice suddenly switches back into sweet and ethereal and a shudder runs up Sanji's back at the sound of her. He hadn't really thought about her before, seeing as how infatuated he is with Zoro and the fact that Zoro came right out and told everyone her sexual orientation. But... damn. That voice of hers is giving him all sorts of feelings, she is damn good and just... wow.

“If you want more of this  
We can push out, sell out, die out  
So you'll shut up  
And stay sleeping  
With my screaming in your itching ears”

She switches back into the chorus and Sanji can only stand there and gape at her. It's only when Zoro chuckles at his side that he realises that everything he's thinking is probably written on his face.

“I'm so sick,  
Infected with where I live  
Let me live without this  
Empty bliss,  
Selfishness  
I'm so sick  
I'm so sick”

“I'm sorry! She's just really really good!” He apologises hastily into Zoro's ear. He doesn't want Zoro to get the opinion of him that he's got a wandering eye or anything, not after how much Baby has cheated on him. The last thing Sanji wants is for Zoro to think the same of him.

“Hear it! I'm screaming it!  
You're heeding to it now  
Hear it! I'm screaming it!  
You tremble at this sound”

Zoro just laughs at him, shaking his head.

“I get it, believe me. Besides I know music does it for you and she's the only person around that is at your level, so I'm not surprised!” Zoro laughs back into his ear, they're both doing that shouting at close range thing that you have to do to be heard at a concert like this.

Sanji reddens, both at Zoro's assertion that he has some sort of music kink (which may or may not be true), but also because of the frankly astounding compliment. He glances back up at Bonney, Zoro really thinks that he's better than her... than anyone?

“You sink into my clothes  
And this invasion  
Makes me feel  
Worthless, hopeless, sick”

Sanji fights down his blush and tries to focus his attention just on Bonney's performance, on how much she's owning the stage and how much her music rocks. He must buy her album as soon as he can, it just sounds amazing.

“I'm so sick,  
Infected with where I live  
Let me live without this  
Empty bliss,  
Selfishness  
I'm so sick  
I'm so sick

I'm so sick  
Infected with where I live  
Let me live without this  
Empty bliss, selfishness  
I'm so  
I'm so sick  
I'm so  
I'm so sick”

Bonney finishes with a dramatic flourish and a fist in the air because she is clearly a beautiful badass. The entire room, including him and Zoro, erupts into wild applause and screaming.

“Holy shit.” Sanji murmurs in awe.

“It's Drake now, I want to see how he'll do after that.” Zoro says, turning them around to face the other stage. Sanji glances back to see Bonney sitting her cute little butt down on one of the large on stage amplifiers so that she can watch Drake from across the stage.

Sanji eyes the strange looking guy on stage. He's got a big X scrawled across his exposed chest. He's wearing a strange blue suit but no shirt underneath, presumably just to show off that X on his chest which looks like it's actually tattooed on. What a strange guy.

He too is a guitarist and Sanji finds himself starting to feel bad about the fact that he can't play a guitar and sing, Zoro can although he's not as good a singer as Sanji himself is. But he's certainly a better guitar player than Sanji is, he can't play at all.

“We call this one 'I'll Find You'” Drake says, leaning into the mic, his voice simply and calm. He takes a step back and coughs lightly before launching into an enthusiastic guitar intro. This one is pretty melodic metal, just like Bonney's was, he sees why Smoker went for this match up now, it makes sense.

“What could have happened to,  
take what's become of it,  
choices that he hath made,  
moulds to most of it,  
but to hide in the shade,  
will keep the weather out,  
and to crawl into,  
the hole that hides you now,”

His voice is rough and powerful but Sanji can hear from the overall technique of his singing that he tends to only ever sing this style of music, he doesn't have much in the way of range and seems to be making up with it with sheer power. It's not to say that the song isn't good, Sanji actually quite likes it, but technically speaking he's not as skilled as Bonney.

“He's hidden it all just to cover his tracks,  
sutured what could be described as the facts,  
taking the trail or the leads we'll find you, find you,”

Listening closer he'd also so that the drummer is nowhere near as strong as Luffy is in his performance, Sanji barely even notices him, let alone the rest of Drake's band members. The strange red-head seems to be carrying the band all by himself.

“Back to the start of it,  
before it will be changed,  
if it's a little weird,  
well then dig in a bit,  
it's more than the sum,  
of all the separate parts,  
suffer the thoughts I had,  
that you will take to heart,”

Drake seems to be thoroughly getting into his performance and Sanji can't help but smile at seeing another artist so thoroughly enjoying what they do. He's probably going to lose to Bonney but the guy has talent, Sanji can see why he's a supernova. He thinks that he'll probably end up buying this guy's album too, at this rate he'll spend any competition winnings that they get on buying their competitor’s music!

“He's hidden it all just to cover his tracks,  
sutured what could be described as the facts,  
taking the trail or the leads we'll find you, find you”

“fail safe always tends to try,  
and make way while you watch and wait,  
for those to take it on themselves,  
fail safe always tends to try,  
and make way while you watch and wait,  
for those to take it on themselves,”

Sanji's eyes widen in surprise as this, Drake turns his growly metal voice and turns it into screaming his lyrics. Sanji is impressed that he can actually still understand the lyrics, with lots of bands that try to do this they end up making themselves unintelligible.

“He's hidden it all just to cover his tracks,  
sutured what could be described as the facts,  
taking the trail or the leads we'll find you, find you,  
He's hidden it all just to cover his tracks,  
sutured what could be described as the facts,  
taking the trail or the leads we'll find you, find you,”

Sanji glances to his side to see that Zoro too is enjoying the performance and having fun watching Drake perform. Sanji glances around the room and sees Baby busily trying to avoid Robin and in fact moving away from them in doing so. Figuring that he's safe in the dark press of people and with distance between him and Baby Sanji slips his hand into Zoro's, lightly twining their fingers.

“I'd much rather have you as my guitarist than him.” He admits to Zoro, just loud enough for him to hear. His face is heating with delivering such a personal compliment but Zoro had been sweet enough to say similar to him and Sanji should repay the favour, he wouldn't want Zoro thinking that he doesn't appreciate his talents every bit as much as Zoro apparently appreciates his.

“And I'll find you, find you, find you  
I'll find you, find you, find you,  
I'll find you, find you, find you,  
And I'll find you, yes I'll find you.”

With that Drake finishes his song with him and his bandmates turning it up to eleven with their instruments and all out competing with each other for the most ostentatious finish. The result is rather jarring but incredibly fun to watch, it makes Sanji giddy with happiness seeing people enjoying their music as much as he does. Sanji applauds loudly along with the rest of the audience, even Bonney on the other stage cheers loudly, she's apparently a very good sport.

“The winner of this round, is Jewellery Bonney!” Smoker's voice calls over the sound system. Drake shrugs good naturedly, although he looks a little down by the result. Bonney on the other hand is ecstatic, leaping up and down with girlish glee that Sanji can't help but find endearing. She snatches up her bass again, thanks everyone for their support and launches into her victory song that her win entitles her to under Smoker's house rules for the competition. During Bonney's set Sanji looks over his shoulder to see Drake's equipment being speedily cleared away and Scratchman's previously set up equipment being brought forward. Despite having being involved with the set up for their own stage he can't help but be in awe of the amount of coordination it takes to organise this sort of event with this many artist changes.

The set up that Scratchman has up on stage is nuts, it's all synthesisers and DJ style equipment. By the time Sanji has retrieved a bottle of water from the bar for himself to make sure his throat is right for singing, across the room Scratchman has started walking onto his stage.

Scratchman's song is actually really good. It's called Around the World and whilst it's not something that Sanji would usually listen to he finds that it's quite catchy and is pretty damn sure that it'll be stuck in his head for a while now. Before Scratchman's song finishes Nami drags them over to their stage, they're already set up entirely there and all they need to do is walk on.

Sanji loiters against the wall. They're behind a waist high fence that splits off the performer only area and there's one of Smoker's subordinates at the steps to the stage barring their way so that they don't go on too early. A few eager newcomers have made their way over to their fence to get a good view of the stage and one or two have even leant over to talk to the band. There's a pink haired kid asking Luffy about learning to drum and Luffy seems more than happy to talk to him. Sanji doesn't feel quite so good. His nerves finally kick in a little and he sips at his water to keep himself occupied.

Scratchman's song finishes and the crowd cheers and jumps excitedly. Now that the song has finished the audience all turn around to their stage instead and the butterflies in Sanji's stomach turn rabid. Smoker's voice comes over the mic and introduces them, the crowd applauds and they are ushered onto the stage.

Sanji climbs the steps, a few paces behind Zoro. But then the strangest thing happens. As soon as Sanji sets his foot on the stage his nerves vanish. He glances across at the sea of faces staring up at them and it all feels so familiar, he's used to this at the Baratie and he's used to playing with his friends. He's not nervous, he's got this.

He follows Zoro up to the front of the stage as Luffy excitedly grabs the microphone set out by his drum kit and excitedly tells the audience how excited they all are to be there. At the front of the stage is the mic set up to his and Zoro's shared height level, just like in all their practices. Zoro slings his guitar over his shoulder and looks up to Chopper who gives them a thumbs up from his sound tech booth, indicating that everything is okay.

Sanji's eyes scan the audience and, yeah, there's that cloud of dark hair of Baby's. His eyes connect with her and he wonders if she's planning on derailing Zoro like she did last time. Well, she's gonna be in for a shock.

He looks back to Zoro instead and beams broadly at him, excitement humming in his veins.

“You gonna be able to keep up, cook?” Zoro asks him quietly with a teasing grin on his face. Sanji's face damn near cracks in half with the grin that he gives him, it's so like what Zoro said to him before they played their own stuff together for the first time.

“Dunno, you gonna impress me, shitty guitarist? If we're having fun with this song you better blow me away.” He goads back.

“Oh, I'll blow you.” Zoro smirks, turning Sanji's face red instantly.

He jolts when Luffy yells out the name of their song and starts counting them in. He flicks his gaze to Baby and his mind reels back in from the happy amusement of messing around with Zoro. Instead he remembers that the point of this song is revenge. He focuses on all the times that Baby has hurt Zoro, all of the cuts and bruises he's come back home with. He needs the right emotion for this song to work and damn if he doesn't have enough loathing for it.

Regrettably this song is one where the first sounds of the song are supposed to be him singing and Zoro almost immediately joining in with him on his guitar. He stares right at Baby who shifts her gaze from Zoro to him, he grins and begins the song that as far as he knows she's never heard before. He can't wait to see her reaction.

“She's got Ansel Adams postcards on her wall,  
they validate her artsiness,  
she got 'em at the mall,  
soulmate's not around,  
some guy she did on Outward Bound,  
the tragic inconvenience of it all.”

Baby goes completely paper white in shock, Sanji would guess that the pointed note about the artsy postcards and the guy she did are entirely true and strike a real nerve. He makes sure to amp up the venom in his words just to really drive the point home. The next lines at least make him remember his most recent encounter with her at Zoro's work and how terrifyingly angry she was.

“Drama over coffee, girlfriend's having issues,  
Dispensing pop-psychology advice like it was tissues,  
She's a cookie-cutter, carbon-copy, Cosmo-clone for life,  
someday she's gonna be somebody's wife.”

Usopp is certainly getting into the song and Zoro's not far behind either. Sanji's eyes flick to Zoro to see the man giving him an affectionate smirk. Zoro's gaze turns to the audience briefly and Sanji is sure that he looks at Baby for the tiniest of seconds before turning back to Sanji and joining him in the chorus, pitching his voice lower than Sanji's out of sheer instinct so that they harmonise neatly.

“What a ripe prototype  
Educated, but dims her light,  
Beauty tips, birthing hips  
Guaranteed function right.”

Sanji finds himself bouncing on the balls of his feet with enjoyment at this, the fact that Zoro has seemed to catch on to what he's doing and isn't looking furious as well is even more promising. He all but snarls out the next two verses, revelling in being as sharp as possible.

“She's got Investment Banker Joe to win the bread  
While tea-times lipo-suck and country-club her in the head  
She's a Betty Crocker, soccer-mommy, Oscar nominee  
For casseroles and faking it in bed.

She's got Prada and Prozac and fun when Joey's gone,  
Lemonade in lingerie for the men who mow the lawn,  
For years and years, her seven-figure life is slowly spent,  
Someday she'll stop and wonder where it went”

For a change it's not him and Zoro leading the theme of the song as much as it is him and Usopp, but it makes sense because Usopp hates Baby almost as much as Sanji does. Zoro however isn't objecting and seems to be enjoying singing this too. Their version of it is different to the one that Sanji's heard from his iPod, theirs is both more vindictive and bouncier, Sanji can't help it, he's all but exploding with energy. He doesn't know whether it’s from the energy of Usopp's keyboard or from the thrill of finally being able to push back at Baby and not be helpless any more.

“What a ripe prototype  
Educated, but dims her light,  
Beauty tips, birthing hips  
Guaranteed function right.”

“She wants a caveman with spear and dental plan,  
Who could give her treats and hold her hand,  
Elektra's complex, you gotta understand,  
She's stranded candyless in Candyland,  
She wants a lollipop!”

To Sanji's surprise Zoro bursts out into the fastest paced and most intricate guitar riff that he's ever heard the man do. It makes his stomach flutter to see Zoro showing off his skill like that and to know that he's effectively doing it to enhance Sanji's vindictive song makes it even better. The two of them lead into finishing off the song and Zoro is now singing with just as much power, volume and enthusiasm as Sanji himself.

“What a ripe prototype  
Educated, but dims her light  
Beauty tips, birthing hips  
Guaranteed function right.”

Zoro pulls the verse back with his guitar and Sanji can't help but stare wistfully at the man who is, through some streak of luck, his boyfriend. Even if he presently has to share Zoro he's still worth it, so much. Zoro's head is thrown back, an expression of sheer creative bliss on his face, he looks like he did the day Sanji found him after he'd written his first song in months and months. His fingers are moving so fast that Sanji almost can't see them and if anything shows off Zoro's incredible talent and skill it's this.

His head snaps forward again and Zoro flashes him a grin that's all feral and full of teeth and on instinct Sanji leans back into the mic. He's not sure if he read Zoro's lips as he started forming the words but the two of them simultaneously start chanting “Go! Go! Go! Go!” over and over again at the end of the song and Sanji is too caught up in the sheer joy of it to spare a look at Baby.

When the song finishes Sanji actually does look at Baby, her face is utterly livid, her whole body is rigid with rage. Zoro however is beaming at Sanji with glee that's so bright it's nearly radioactive. He fights down the urge to press a kiss to Zoro's perfect mouth and only just manages it.

“This rounds winner is The Straw Hats!” Smoker's voice cuts across the room, startling Sanji. He'd almost forgot that this was a competition, he'd been so absorbed in his war against Baby and the sheer joy of playing with Zoro. Sanji blinks in stunned silence for a second, the concept hits his mind at the same point that Luffy hits his back, pulling him, Zoro and somehow everyone else on stage into a massive hug. They won the round! They can move forward onto the next round, he didn't fuck up! He squeaks in surprised happiness and hugs everyone a little tighter. Luffy excitedly tells them what to play and bounds off to the drum kit. Following their frontman's orders happily they all burst into a rendition of Lake Pontchartrain which sets the audience off in a cheering fit.

It all just feels so right, he's singing at Zoro's side and the two of them have a perfect flow going between them. It's easy in a way that Sanji's never ever felt with anyone before and despite his intentions to not get too attached too soon he can't help but think that this feels like home.

When his eyes land on Baby it's actually by accident, she's not looking at him but Zoro instead and her expression is one of quiet horror and betrayal. For a flash Sanji feels awful, until he looks over to Zoro and sees that Zoro looks blissfully happy and in his element. It's a look that he's gotten used to by now, the look that both of them wear when they're playing with each other. They've never had a problem with practicing after they found this feeling, the two of them are more inclined to practice with just the two of them than to miss a practice session, they're both junkies for this feeling. He supposes that he is Zoro's muse, it's a perfect fit and a harmony between them, so the same goes in reverse. Zoro is his muse too.

The realisation hits him as the song finishes, Baby looks angry and betrayed because she doesn't want Zoro feeling like that for anyone. She doesn't want him to be happy at all, especially with someone who isn't her. She's genuinely threatened here and that's had more of an effect on her than his rather pointed song. He searches for her in the audience and sees her black hair disappearing out of the door, she's left. He feels his hackles rise and he hisses under his breath, as little as he likes it she's currently still Zoro's girlfriend and yet him being happy pisses her off. Why is she even with him if she doesn't like seeing him happy? What is it that she gets out of her and Zoro's relationship apart from a free punching bag?

“Come on, you spacey motherfucker.” Zoro berates him, his hand fisting in the front of Sanji's shirt as Zoro yanks him off stage. The band had been leaving and Sanji hadn't even noticed. Oops.

They follow Smoker's directions from earlier in the day and clear off out back, they need to wait until the crowd has gone before they can clear up their “shit” as Smoker had so touchingly put it. In the meantime there's alcohol in their room waiting for them and the band wastes no time in cracking it open in a celebratory fashion.

“We won! We won!” Luffy and Usopp chorus, dancing together happily with alcohol in hand. Sanji watches them with amusement for a moment, snickering around the lip of his beer bottle. They're so excitable it's amazing.

“Aaaa, Zoro you were amazing! That guitar solo!” Usopp yells, peeling off from Luffy to throw himself at his best friend. Poor Zoro had been sitting on the floor leaning against the wall and now he's got an ecstatic Usopp plastered to him. Sanji decides to leave them to it, he respects that Usopp and Zoro have a close relationship, one that's much older than his with Zoro. Instead he makes his way over to Nami and Robin and settles in between his two lovely flowers.

“That was priceless, Sanji, I'd pay to see that look on her face again.” Nami says with a dark grin on her features. Sanji raises an impressed eyebrow, for Nami to willingly want to pay for anything spoke volumes. 

“You looked like the two of you were having fun, too.” Robin notes with a tilt of her head.

“I always have fun with Zoro.” Sanji blurts out thoughtlessly and, if by the fact that Zoro perks up with interest, a little louder than he'd intended. He can't be drunk already but the adrenaline must be playing a part too.

“Oops.” He squeaks, covering his mouth with his hand. Luffy just guffaws good naturedly and the raucous nature of the room comes back, noise covering his conversation again.

“The two of you seem pretty serious, it's quite quick.” Robin notes softly, her piercingly blue eyes pinning Sanji to the spot. He feels an embarrassed flush creep up his skin. It's not that he's ashamed of his relationship with Zoro or even that he's got any issues with being attracted to men, but some part of his younger teenage assertion to be just “for the ladies” always makes him a little squeamish about discussing this with them. It doesn't help that Nami and Robin are both wearing looks that suggest that no matter what he says they're going to know more than he tells them, he swears that they're mind readers. 

“I... yeah. It's a little complicated though. I'd rather not... sorry my lovelies.” He apologises softly. He doesn't want to explain precisely why it's complicated, once again it's not his secret to tell.

“Is it Baby?” Nami asks making Sanji's spine snap straight in shock and his eyes widen.

“That's a yes then.” Nami says, narrowing her eyes angrily. Oh shit, he's just given something away that he really shouldn't have done! He needs to fix this, and now!

“No, no, no! We're fine, she's got nothing to do with-” Sanji tries to hastily backpedal, keeping his voice as quiet as he can, he doesn't want to attract Zoro's attention. Goodness only knows what Zoro would do if the others found out, probably massively freak out, and with good reason too!

“It's not a comment on you at all Sanji, really.” Robin says gently, laying her hand on Sanji's arm in a comforting manner. Her eyes are soft and comforting and even Nami is looking at him with an expression of fond protectiveness.

“I hate that snake, they've been over for ages now but she still keeps trying to ruin any good thing that Zoro gets in his life.” Nami hisses angrily, her fists clenching angrily and a furious fire burning behind her pretty eyes. He reminds himself yet again to never get on Nami's bad side, they'd probably never find his body.

“I think that you might have taken the wind out of her sails more than a little tonight. But has she been hassling the two of you?” Robin questions him curiously, her intelligent eyes focused keenly on him. Sanji feels pinned to the spot like a mouse before a hawk, he feels one wrong move away from being carried off against his will.

“Everything's fine, I wouldn't want to worry either of you.” He says quickly. What he's said is loosely true, for a given value of “fine” and even obfuscating that much to a lady, whilst not strictly speaking lying, rubs him the wrong way. But once more, Zoro's secret and his promise to keep it outranks his heavily ingrained instincts to good behaviour.

Nami narrows her eyes in suspicion at him and Sanji tries to keep his face neutral and drains the last of his beer. He makes an excuse to go and get another so as to be able to break eye contact with her. He innocently gets “distracted” by Franky and Brook on his way back to the girls and regrettably “forgets” to return to them so that they can grill him more information.

After that there's the packing up of the equipment to take care of and if Sanji avoids Nami and Robin ever so slightly by insisting that he carry all of the heavy stuff then that's not at all suspicious or deliberate. Of course not. They pile into the Sunny after a brief goodbye from Bonney who seems just as pleased to have won and then they head back to their hotel. Bonney wanders off to a room down the hall from them and Sanji and Zoro bid everyone goodnight and head to their room.

Zoro leans on the door to shut it behind them as Sanji peels off his coat and drops it onto the chair in the corner.

“Alright, you.” Zoro says a little sternly. Sanji frowns, concerned, and turns to look at Zoro only to find the other man already up in his space. Zoro gives him a hard shove and Sanji stumbles back towards the bed where one more strong push has him on his back on the crappy hotel mattress.

Zoro climbs swiftly onto the bed and pins Sanji down, a hand on each wrist and stares down at Sanji's face.

“We won, and I'm happy about that. It was fun too, but I'm not stupid so don't you dare think that.” Zoro warns him seriously, his eyes boring into Sanji in a way that makes him seriously uncomfortable.

“What do you mean?” Sanji squeaks nervously, though he suspects that he knows just what Zoro is alluding to.

“Try again, the song.” Zoro says, squeezing Sanji's wrists slightly. Sanji chews his lip and Zoro sighs, leaning up and sitting down on Sanji's thighs.

“I know you were talking to Nami and Robin, who pretty much run the “we hate Baby” club. Then suddenly we're doing a song about her?” Zoro says slowly, although Sanji can see doubt start to creep across his features. If he just denies it Zoro would probably believe him, but lying to Zoro is no way to start a relationship is it?

“Okay, I... she showed up at the show and I wanted to get her back for... well, for everything. I know it was petty and stupid and this whole thing isn't like me but... I don't know. I'm sorry.” He apologises meekly. He feels bad about it already, not for hurting her feelings because she deserves that, as horrible a person as that probably makes him he knows that he can live with that when it's her. But he feels bad for effectively going behind Zoro's back and making him a part of it.

“She showed up? Of course she did, she's part of the competition.” Zoro frowns down at him, not getting it.

“No, she showed up before, she was lurking out in the alley by the Sunny. I'm completely sure that she was waiting to catch you going out there.” Sanji says, feeling the venom creep into his voice just at the thought of her ambushing him like that. What if Zoro had gone out there instead of him? What had she been planning to do to him?

“Shit.” Zoro says distantly, his hand scratching the hair on the back of his head anxiously.

“Sorry.” Sanji apologises again softly, putting his hands gently on Zoro's thighs.

“Nah, just tell me shit like that. I won't break. I wonder what she wanted though.” Zoro hums thoughtfully.

“Your mortal soul, probably.” Sanji deadpans and is pleased when Zoro's face cracks into a laugh.

“We still won though.” Zoro chuckles, leaning down to Sanji and kissing his neck. Sanji can feel Zoro's smile against his skin. Sanji tilts his head and gasps slightly, Zoro had pinned him down for a genuine interrogation but now that it's over he's still got Zoro on top of him and Zoro's mouth on his skin. He squirms underneath Zoro and finds that he probably couldn't force Zoro off of him right now if he wanted to, not that he'd have to, he knows that if he said no then Zoro would of course let him go. Still, the physical effect of being pinned down and sort of helpless sends a strange thrill through him. He doesn't have a submission kink or anything, but just that knowledge makes his adrenaline kick up in a pleasant way.

“Yeah, we won.” He agrees a little breathlessly and turns his head to catch a kiss from Zoro. Zoro's mouth is firm and insistent and Sanji ends up letting Zoro lead, which seems to please him to no end. He can't help but think about whether or not Zoro gets to be in control like this with Baby, if not then he can understand why Zoro might want to explore that more. He doesn't know enough about what Zoro and Baby's sex life was like, except for the fact that it had ended once he and Zoro got together. Surely it will affect where he and Zoro start from though, won't it?

Zoro sighs and leans up from him, looking down at Sanji with a slightly pissed off expression.

“I can practically hear you thinking you know.” Zoro grumbles at him.

“Sorry for the fact that I use my brain, moron.” Sanji retorts quickly.

“Yeah, but quit thinking about my girlfriend when I'm trying to kiss you stupid.” Zoro laughs teasingly and laughs even harder when Sanji's skin flushes red from mortification.

“Stop giving her airtime in there, it'll drive you crazy, trust me I know.” Zoro insists, tapping Sanji's forehead with his finger.

“I'm not thinking about her like that.” Sanji insists with a wrinkle of his nose. He remembers distantly being so attracted to her when he'd first met her, but getting to know a person can change that.

“Yeah, you're supposed to be thinking about me like that.” the guitarist sniggers, leaning down to press a kiss to Sanji's jaw.

“I think about you like that almost all the time.” he promises Zoro.

“Oh really? Pervert. Do you even think about me when you jerk off in the shower?” Zoro questions filthily and bites Sanji's earlobe.

“Ew!” Sanji protests shoving Zoro away, “Who jerks off in the shower? That's gross!” He proclaims.

Zoro's frankly filthy grin and lecherous eyebrow waggle tell Sanji he has a very good idea of just who jerks off in the shower.

“Oh god, GROSS! We share that shower!” Sanji squeals in horror, trying to get out from under the madly laughing Zoro.

“I know, it makes it better.” Zoro teases to Sanji's horror.

“Augh! You Neanderthal!” he yells and shoves his hand into Zoro's face. When he pulls back though Zoro yelps in pain and snaps a tight grip onto his wrist and holds him in place.

“What-?” Sanji begins in confusion.

“Shirt caught on earrings. Hold up.” Zoro hisses and tugs carefully at Sanji's shirt sleeve.

“Are you okay?” He asks, carefully leaning up. He feels something come free and Zoro lets his hand go, rubbing his ear gingerly.

“Yeah, I'm good. Real smooth there Casanova.” Zoro says snarkily, shoving Sanji in the face so that he lands flat back on the bed again.

“Sorry.” Sanji breathes, reaching up to catch Zoro's hand and place kisses on each calloused fingertip.

“I think I've heard you apologise more tonight than in all the time I've known you.” Zoro says suspiciously.

“Sorry!” Sanji chirps, pleased at the opportunity to annoy Zoro some more.

“Alright, no more from you. Shut up and let me at you.” Zoro insists, shoving Sanji's mouth shut and crawling down Sanji's body. Zoro does flick him a questioning look of permission though, his hands just breaching the bottom of Sanji's shirt. The singer nods silent and breathless and Zoro beams and runs his hands up inside Sanji's shirt.

Normally Sanji would have been concerned about this going too far but since he'd been sensible and not packed any supplies then he didn't have to worry and he could just let himself enjoy this. Zoro's fingers pop Sanji's buttons open and Sanji slithers out of his shirt whilst Zoro runs exploratory hands over Sanji's skin. Zoro seems to be taking his time with it, working out which bits of Sanji's skin are sensitive, which are ticklish and which make him shiver in pleasure.

Sanji squirms and sighs loudly in pleasure before getting restless and leaning up to carefully yank Zoro's shirt off, mindful of his earrings. With Zoro sitting in his lap it's hard to get at all of Zoro's chest but he does his best, letting his hands roam but focusing more with his mouth. He discovers that Zoro's nipples are sensitive but perhaps not in a good way because Zoro starts pulling back with a disgruntled noise when he goes for them, Sanji notes that down in his head and moves on. He presses a kiss to the skin over Zoro's heart and feels the slightly fast beat under his sensitive lips.

“Sap.” Zoro teases affectionately, pushing Sanji further up the bed and kissing him some more. It's more of a lazy exploration of tongues than it is a mad passionate dash but Sanji finds himself loving every second of it. It feels great just being in the moment without having to worry about how far this can go.

Zoro hand stills at Sanji's belt and once again there's a questioning look, Zoro's waiting for permission yet again. It's so sweet and Sanji melts a little inside. Instead of saying yes he reaches down and shoves Zoro's hands away, Zoro looks a little put out until Sanji undoes his own belt and then in one smooth motion divests himself of all of his clothes and climbs naked into the kneeling Zoro's lap and kisses him firmly on the mouth.

“I fucking love you.” He insists and bites Zoro's lip, affectionate and playfully aggressive.

“You too, let me...” Zoro trails off, pushing Sanji back down and making his way down Sanji's body. Zoro pauses for a second before licking a long stripe up Sanji's cock, ignoring how it makes Sanji squeak in surprised pleasure. Sanji's toes curl in the bedsheets and his head falls back against the mattress with a thud. He whines needily as he tries to resist the temptation to jerk up into Zoro's mouth when the guitarist takes him inside his mouth. The only sound that fills the room is Sanji's breathy gasps and moans and the slight creak of the bed.

Zoro hums thoughtfully and the vibration from Zoro's throat zings through Sanji's cock and pulls his back into a taut arch of bliss.

“OH! Zoro fuck me that- oh!” He exclaims, his hands tangling in Zoro's thick green hair of their own accord. Zoro pulls off of him and gives Sanji an impossibly wide lecherous grin.

“Is that an offer? Because I'd really love to.” Zoro purrs, moving fluidly up to Sanji's face and kissing him. A wave of want rolls through him and suddenly Sanji wants nothing more than that. He can feel the heat of Zoro through his jeans and he wants that heat in him. He can't though, not without any supplies. Shit, why did he think not packing them was a good idea? STUPID!

Why the hell is Zoro still wearing jeans when Sanji's stark naked anyway? He snarls and flips them over, Zoro making a soft noise of surprise until Sanji aggressively pops the button on his jeans open and pulls them down and throws them aggressively against the wall for the crime of concealing Zoro.

Zoro is beautifully tan all over and Sanji licks lovingly along the smooth skin of Zoro's hip. He settles back on his heels and looks Zoro over, excited to see all that he actually has to play with. His gaze gravitates towards Zoro's cock and he palms along it greedily and stares at its size and shape.

“Take a picture, it'll last longer.” Zoro says, his voice flat and sarcastic and Sanji realises that he may have been staring a little bit too long.

“Is that an offer? Cause I can get my phone...” Sanji smirks, making to lean off of the bed in the direction of his trousers.

“Don't you DARE!” Zoro yells, grabbing Sanji by the hips and throwing him onto the mattress with a bounce. Sanji giggles uncontrollably at the idea.

“I could set it as your contact picture so whenever you ring me your dick flashes up on my screen, it'd be great.” He cackles.

“You're the worst person, you stupid curly cook.” Zoro accuses him and pins him down with one hand, running another over all the places that he'd discovered were ticklish earlier. Sanji yelps and tries to escape, laughing hard. He can't remember ever having this much fun with someone in bed, it was always all about pleasure, either his or the other person's. But this... this was fun!

“You bastard!” Sanji laughs and knocks Zoro's hand from under him, dropping Zoro to his elbows. The movement makes the two of them rub together, and both freeze and groan happily, the mood changing again swiftly. Sanji squirms his hand down between them and wraps his hand around him and Zoro, working them together slowly. Zoro's head drops to Sanji's collarbone with a sigh. Sanji tilts his head and looks down at them, enjoying the contrast in their skin tones.

“Not that this isn't great, because... yeah.” Zoro groans distractedly in Sanji's ear.

“But do you want to have sex? I don't mind either way cause this is really good too.” Zoro says running a hand from Sanji's chest to his hip, just... feeling him.

Sanji bites his bottom lip and whines, he really doesn't care who would get to top, he just wants Zoro so badly.

“We can't.” He pants, shaking his head.

“Sure we can, I know what I'm doing.” Zoro insists, leaning up to look down at Sanji with earnest eyes.

“Oh yeah? You didn't know you liked men until I kissed you.” he challenges skeptically.

“And since then I've done lots of research. The internet is a wonderful thing.” the guitarist snorts and rolls his eyes. Sanji's face reddens at the idea of Zoro doing that and thinking about him, did Zoro read guides and imagine doing that to Sanji or did he watch porn and mentally superimpose Sanji's body? Either thought makes him shiver needily to be wanted and thought of like that.

“I mean we can't though, I didn't bring anything we need with me. No lube, no protection...” Sanji groans miserably. He wants to go back in time and punch himself right in the gut for being so stupid. He's already told Zoro that he loves him, he's quite literally as fucked as he's going to be. If Zoro goes back to Baby now then there is no difference that Zoro having sex with him will make now, he'd be lying to himself if he said that he wasn't crazily emotionally invested.

“I did!” Zoro says and pushes off of Sanji, going for his suitcase. Zoro returns with glee and dumps his horde on the bed. Sanji's eyes widen as he counts three bottles of lube, one silicone and two water based as well as about fifteen condoms of all sorts of brands, styles and even flavours.

“Shit Zoro, how much sex were you planning on having when you packed?” Sanji gawps at him.

“More than you evidently, anyway it doesn't hurt to pack just in case.” Zoro says smugly, clearly pleased at having been smarter than Sanji. Sanji picks up one of the bottles of lube and eyes the other two. They're all brand new and still sealed up, this isn't stuff he's used for himself or with Baby, Zoro bought these for them. His chest flutters with emotion and excitement both and he turns the lube in his hand towards Zoro.

“You wanna do me then?” He offers with a sinful waggle of his eyebrows.

“You want me to top?” Zoro asks, excitement evident in his tone as he uses his teeth to tear through the bottle's packaging.

Sanji nods and watches as Zoro dispenses lube onto his fingertips and gets to work. Zoro's touch is a little hesitant at first and Sanji realises that this really is entirely new to him, but Zoro soon gets the hang of it. He can all but hear some internet guide running through Zoro's head though as he goes through the standard procedure of preparing him, methodically adding fingers with an entirely serious look of concentration on his face.

“Don't look so serious, idiot.” Sanji teases, kicking Zoro in the side gently with his foot.

“Shut up, I'm just trying to make sure I do this right.” Zoro argues back, glaring at him and then crooking his fingers just so in a way that rubs Sanji's prostate and makes him drop his head back with a loud pleasured groan.

“Yes, okay, very good, carry on.” He retorts a little weakly as Zoro laughs gently and does it again, making Sanji moan and squirm down on his hand.

“You seriously need to fuck me because if you keep that up...” Sanji trails off a little breathlessly. Zoro removes his fingers, apparently Sanji doesn't have to tell him twice because Sanji only has the sound of a foil wrapper tearing and a quick shift in position to alert him before Zoro shoves all the way into him. Sanji hisses at the sudden intensity of it, his fingernails digging little half moons into Zoro's shoulders.

“Oh fuck, that was too fast wasn't it?” Zoro exclaims, his voice unsteady and his eyes screwed shut like he's trying not to come.

“Yeah- little bit. Just... ok.” Sanji breathes, making himself relax and settle around Zoro. Good god, he's so warm though, even just being still feels pretty nice. He reaches up with his leg and pushes Zoro's hips with his foot to get him to move. Zoro seems to snap out of his trance and instead focuses on moving.

Zoro's right hand holds him up whilst his left wanders all over Sanji's skin, making him gasp and moan out loud as rough fingertips graze over sensitive spots and nerves. He gets the feeling that Zoro is cataloging every reaction. Zoro hums thoughtfully and snaps his hips sharply, a sudden contrast from the slow languid movements that he'd been making before.

“Oh GOD, do that again!” Sanji sobs out desperately and Zoro complies, making heat shoot up Sanji's spine and his head spin.

“Ohhh.” He groans out loudly and fists his hands in Zoro’s hair. The pace that Zoro is setting is good, not too fast and not too slow but awfully sharp and with each jolt inside Sanji he falls apart a little more. He's moving back against Zoro as much as he can but he's starting to turn to jelly. He can hear the noises that he's making, whines for more and groans of pleasure along with loud pleas for Zoro to go faster or slower or harder depending on what Sanji wants.

Zoro shoves his arm underneath Sanji's leg and leans down to kiss him, open mouthed and hot. The angle changes beautifully and Sanji simply howls in bliss at it and Zoro is only too happy to oblige him with more of the same.

“I'm never going to be able to hear you sing again without getting hard. Your voice, Sanji...” Zoro pants against Sanji's neck. That only makes Sanji louder, not that he can really help it at this point. He's tingling with bliss from his scalp to his tiptoes and he can feel unbelievable tension building up in him so strongly that he's surprised that he's not snapped and shattered into a million pieces already.

Zoro tugs him up off of the bed and leans back on his heels, keeping Sanji in his lap the whole time. Sanji bonelessly complies and drapes himself over Zoro's shoulders and does his best to keep in time with Zoro's movements. He leans up to suck on Zoro's earrings and is pleased with the reaction it gets from Zoro, even if the guitarist is less vocal than him.

Zoro's hand wraps around Sanji's dick and Sanji yells in surprise and pleasure, he hears the windows ring in their frames and realises in a muzzy distant way as he alternates between bucking into Zoro's hand and grinding down into his lap that his voice must have hit the resonant frequency of the glass at a volume high enough for it to respond. He doesn't have the presence of mind to work out what it was though because, well, Zoro's fucking his brains out.

“Shh, you're gonna hurt your voice Sanji.” Zoro insists, stroking Sanji's throat and drawing a completely counterproductive moan from Sanji.

“Shh!” Zoro laughs but Sanji can't. He clamps his hands over his mouth but that only muffles it slightly and he's finding that he needs air more than that and relents.

“Zoro, please I'm gonna die if I don't...” He whines out, grabbing Zoro's hand and making Zoro hold his dick a little tighter.

“I've got you.” Zoro assures him and leans Sanji back down onto the mattress. He's too far gone to be of any help other than vocally but Zoro picks up the speed and the strength whilst working his hand over Sanji. When Sanji does come shortly after it's with what could probably only be described as a scream, though a yell sounds manlier if less accurate. Zoro simply swears and drops his head to Sanji's chest as he tenses and releases, his hips juddering into Sanji out of instinct, making Sanji whine brokenly.

They pull apart and after a second Zoro falls back to his side next to Sanji, both of them hot, sweaty and sticky. They simply stay like that for a little while, both breathing hard and trying to reorient themselves.

“You always that loud?” Zoro teases, leaning up on his elbow to look at Sanji.

“Not usually that loud, I hope no one heard. Are you usually that good?” He retorts with a grin.

“Considering as this is my only time so far with a guy, technically yes, I am always exactly as good as however good I just was. One hundred per cent of the time.” Zoro laughs.

“Mmm, I should really shower...” Sanji sighs, grabbing some tissues from the bedside table and clearing up as much of the mess that he's made of his stomach as he can.

“But, meh, these aren't my sheets and I'm fucking tired.” Sanji complains and sneaks underneath the covers. Zoro grins and him and does the same.

“I'm a terrible influence on you, I like it.” Zoro sniggers, pulling Sanji close.

“You're the worst.” Sanji yawns, curling up against Zoro and drifting off gently to sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Sanji awakes with a start at six am, he's aware instantly of Zoro's presence in bed next to him. Partially because of the aura that the man always seems to put out which draws Sanji to him like a moth to a flame, but mostly because Zoro is snoring right into Sanji's ear. 

He's naked under the sheets and his stomach feels slightly tacky in a way that makes him wish that he'd actually gone and taken that shower last night, although even now he doubts if his legs could have held him up after all of that. God damn how was that Zoro's first time with a guy? If he was always like that he could rather grudgingly see what it was that Baby got out of being with Zoro, other than using him as her personal punching bag. In a flash he remembers those long fingernail scratches Zoro had on his back after seeing Baby once and sleeping with her. Well, Zoro didn't have those last night and any marks he had on him would be Sanji's for a change and they would be out of love and not violence. 

He turns his head and looks at his sleeping boyfriend. It feels strange to think that Zoro is his boyfriend, he's been trying to keep Zoro at arm's length from his heart ever since the first time that Zoro turned him down that he's almost being doing mental gymnastics to stop from thinking about it. Sanji looks at Zoro, his face relaxed in sleep and runs his eyes over the soft fan of his short but dark eyelashes on his face. He watches the way that Zoro's lips twitch slightly in his sleep, almost as if he's thought of something funny and is restraining the smile. 

Zoro's arms are wrapped around the pillow under his head and one of his legs is caught up in Sanji's own, so he doesn't want to leave the bed for fear of waking Zoro. Frankly he doesn't want to leave the bed anyway so it's not a crushing burden to carry. 

He smiles to himself in the quiet room, or as quiet as the room can be with Zoro's soft snoring. He had been pretty stupid to try to protect himself from Zoro. Oh, the idea wasn't stupid, not in itself. But he was already too far gone by the time he thought of it for it to do him any good. His attempts to stop this from happening by not packing lube were smart but far too little to late. For better or worse his heart is tied to Zoro's and had been for some time. 

He pulls his phone from the dresser out of idle curiosity. He presses his voicemail to see if Zeff had left him any messages, there is indeed one message on there. 

“So. I heard about the show. Don't get cocky little brat.” And then he hangs up. Sanji beams, Zeff is proud of him and wants him to do well. He knows that much from all the years of aggressive metaphors for real emotion that they two of them have constructed. Zeff might as well have bought a 'I'm proud of my son' blimp and hung it up over his house and the message would have been just as clear to Sanji. 

Still with a grin on his face he checks his email and sees that he has thousands of unread emails, all from twitter. Confused he opens the app on his phone and checks his mentions, basically it pulls up any time that anyone on the whole of twitter has tagged him in a tweet with his username. 

There's several from people who were at the show last night, commenting about the whole band and their performance. A few ladies are even commenting on Sanji's looks and his voice, some quite flirtatious messages indeed. Sanji grins, mentally preening over the messages. Of course he'd never take any of them up on anything like that, not with Zoro at his side. It's still nice to be wanted though!

The next tweet is from someone that he doesn't recognise, though the username gives him a clue as to whom it might be. It appears that Scratchman and X Drake have been talking about him and Zoro it seems. All of the band have SH and then their names for their twitter name, Nami set them all up.

@Xdrake hey @Sman I think it's @Shsanji and @Shzoro that have the room next to yours. #whydoyouask

Puzzled Sanji clicks the link which expands the conversation thread and reads on.

@Sman @Xdrake now I know that its @Shsanji and @shzoro having pornographically loud sex in the room next to me 

Sanji's jaw falls open. Shit. People heard them?!

@Tlaw @Xdrake @Sman I'm in the room underneath and I can hear them too @Shsanji has a stupidly powerful voice

Oh shit, shit shit! Sanji continues reading in muted horror, his mouth open in a silent scream. 

@Shfranky @Tlaw @Xdrake @Sman I'm in the car park and I can still hear them. #attaboy

@Shnami I don't think they would appreciate us discussing this. 

@Shusopp @shnami @shfranky I'm pretty sure that Sanji can't help it. I'm getting out of my room before my ears bleed, see you at the sunny?

@Jbonney @Shusopp @shnami @shfranky already ahead of you, you really can hear them out here! #attaboy

Robin has then tweeted a picture of several of the band's competitors including Bonney and the rest of their band sitting in the car park together, all tagged with that damn #attaboy hashtag. Sanji doesn't know whether to be angry or mortified. It's bad enough that people overheard them, it's even worse that now anyone with an internet connection and their twitter names knows!

@Sman update: the pictures have been knocked off of my walls now from the banging next door. #attaboy

@Tlaw Is @shsanji exaggerating or is @shzoro really that good in bed? Independent verification @Baby5 #attaboy

All of Sanji's blood drains out of his face and he sits bolt upright with a startled yelp. 

“ZORO!” Sanji shouts, shaking him awake shoving the phone in the bleary eyed man's face. 

“Wuh?” Zoro grumbles, eventually taking the phone from Sanji and blinking dumbly at it for a few seconds. His eyes then get very wide and Zoro seems to go from barely awake to ten cups of coffee awake in about half a second. Sanji is gnawing on his bottom lip, panic and guilt warring for domination of his system. 

“I'm so sorry!” He chokes out, his hands clutched over his mouth in mortified horror. Why couldn't he just keep his damn mouth shut or remember that there were other people in this hotel? They were supposed to be keeping this quiet and he had been anything but!

“It's not your fault, people were gonna find out anyway. Just... I didn't think this would be how. At least Nami tried, but seriously, fuck Law for getting Baby involved.” Zoro grumbles, falling back onto the bed with a squeak of the mattress. 

“What do we do?” Sanji asks softly. He's sat cross-legged and buck naked on bed in front of Zoro and until this moment he's been too preoccupied with his panic at Baby knowing about them to be embarrassed about his nudity but now he's acutely aware of it. He shakes the thought off though, Zoro is quite acquainted with his naked body after last night and Zoro didn't have any complaints then, did he?

Zoro's mouth pulls down at the corner and he rolls over to grab his own phone and peer at it, he taps on it for a few seconds and his frown deepens.

“That's strange, I don't have any messages from her. Either she's not seen it or...” Zoro trails off with a frown, still transfixed by the screen. 

“Or?” Sanji prompts, anxiety coiling in the pit of his belly. 

“Or she's flipped out and broken her phone before she did anything. Either way there's shit all I can do about it.” Zoro declares and drops his phone on the floor over the side of the bed and then throws his arm over his eyes. 

Sanji stares at Zoro, shouldn't they be coming up with a plan or something here? Maybe try to convince people that they hadn't really heard what they did or ask Law to remove the tweet just in case Baby hasn't in fact seen it yet? Surely they should do something! But instead Zoro is just relaxing into the mattress again looking for all the world like he intends to fall back asleep. 

“You seem remarkably calm about all of this.” Sanji says, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Zoro. 

“No, I'm just used to not knowing what terrible thing she's going to do next. This is pretty normal for me, except for the part where I'm mostly happy.” Zoro responds, leaning up briefly to pull Sanji down by the waist and back into bed next to him. 

“You're a sap.” Sanji protests, his accusation weakened by the giant dorky smile on his face as Zoro pulls him into his scarred chest. 

Later when they emerge from their room after an unexpectedly long and distracting shared shower they discover the rest of the band waiting in the Sunny with varying levels of lecherous grins on. The only person not grinning like that is Chopper and that's only because he's red from ear to ear. 

Zoro looks at them all with a flat and unimpressed expression whilst Sanji loiters behind him and wishes that the earth would swallow him up whole. Usopp and Luffy are barely restraining their sniggers. 

“I don't even wanna hear it.” Zoro says firmly.

“Neither did we!” Franky guffaws and the whole bus erupts into raucous laughter.

“Very funny. What's the plan for today?” Zoro groans looking at the others. Nami suppresses her giggles and looks at them, a grin still curling at the edges of her perfect lips. 

“Well, we need to drive to Okama Way. We ought to get there reasonably early. We check in with the owner and then we've got a hotel booked but I thought we could practice tonight and then we're playing tomorrow night.” Nami explains with a smirk. 

“I have to admit that it's a pretty tight playing schedule, lots of the bands won't be used to it. It could be an advantage.” Usopp notes thoughtfully.

“It's ok, I can take it.” Sanji asserts confidently.

“WE KNOW YOU CAN! YOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Brook laughs hysterically, causing all of the others to collapse into fits of laughter. 

“Ugh, just let them get it out of their system.” Zoro grumbles, leading Sanji downstairs to the lower floor of the bus. He can still hear the laughter from upstairs. 

Sanji settles into one of the long bench seats with Zoro, he kicks off his shoes and rests his bare feet on Zoro's leg and tries to absorb himself in a book to distract himself from the laughing. Zoro pulls something from his own bag and is flicking through it whilst chewing on a pen in his mouth, slowly rotating it as he does so. 

“What are you doing?” Sanji asks in interest after Franky has recovered himself enough to come down, start the bus and get driving. 

“Mm, a song I've been working on for a while.” Zoro says absently, staring at the lyrics.

“What? This is the first I've heard of this, how come you've not shown it to me before?” Sanji asks, dropping his book and leaning up on his elbows to look at Zoro. Zoro suddenly flushes red and then pulls the notebook well out of Sanji's reach as if he hadn't thought through what he'd said and blurted out something embarrassing. Sanji slowly puts two and two together.

“Is this a song about me by any chance?” Sanji purrs and the way that Zoro twitches is a clear yes. 

Sanji moves quick and gracefully, flipping himself instantly from laying down to straddling Zoro's lap. In a flash he's got the notebook out of Zoro's hand and is peering over the page. Sure enough it's Zoro's particular style of songwriting with lyrics and tabs set out here and there, though Sanji notes that there's lots of crossing through on this one. Zoro seems to be having some trouble writing this song. 

“Hey! You can't just-” Zoro gets cut off though when Sanji grinds into his lap and Zoro's eyes seem to unfocus. 

“Hmm? What was that?” Sanji hums innocently and reads through the lyrics, this song is definitely about him. And... it's a love song, or at the very least a song about how much Zoro wants him, which Sanji is totally okay with too. 

“My, my...” Sanji murmurs reading over it. 

“You're the worst boyfriend I've ever had.” Zoro complains, his hands settling on Sanji's hips and despite his words, making no effort to remove his notebook from Sanji's hands. 

“I'm the only boyfriend you've ever had.” Sanji says, frowning and looking up at Zoro. 

“My statement still stands.” the guitarist says pettily. 

“By that logic I'm also the best boyfriend you've ever had, idiot.” Sanji berates him, whapping Zoro on the top of the head with the notebook. 

“That too. Give me that, curly-brow.” Zoro barks, snatching the notebook back off of Sanji. 

“I liked the song. Are you thinking of doing it tomorrow?” he asks curiously, still seated on Zoro's lap. 

“I don't know, it's not right yet and we've never played it before. It's kinda late notice.” Zoro says uncertainly. 

“You're not chickening out on me are you?” Sanji teases playfully, nipping at Zoro's nose with his teeth. 

“As if.” the guitarist grins, leaning into Sanji's space, something the blonde doesn't mind in the slightest. 

From where Loguetown is Okama Way is actually further away now than it is from their home. Still, they can't help that and instead set off on the very long drive to the club of Sanji's personal nightmares. They don't say anything to the others about the tweet to Baby on the way over there but Sanji would have to be blind to miss the way that Zoro keeps checking his phone for messages or calls from her. Sanji suspects that he's probably more anxious about this whole thing than Zoro is, after all Zoro was right when he pointed out that he was the one who was used to this sort of thing. Sanji by comparison is not used to this at all and the agitation is eating away inside of him. 

Zoro manages to distract him by getting the band together to play Zoro's almost fully written song whilst they drive. Nami switches driving shifts with Franky so that he can play too. It takes about five run throughs before Zoro decides firmly on the lyrics and allows Sanji to play with the tune of them. Chopper helps tweak the harmony of the song a little, switching keys for a few things and suggesting tweaks to the tempo here and there. Sanji supposes that degree he's getting in music theory isn't for nothing after all. They take a break partway through to stop for shitty roadside burgers which Sanji only forces down because he doesn't like skipping meals, in his opinion the box it came in probably has about as much nutritional content. 

“We're playing this song tonight.” Luffy declares firmly from behind his drum kit. 

“Seriously? But it's still so new!” Zoro protests. 

“But it's real. It's about you and Sanji and when you sing it together you sound real. That's what we need, that's our strength.” Luffy points out seriously. 

Zoro's mouth is open slightly, like he wants to protest. Sanji can see why, even he thinks that the song is not quite right yet. Or perhaps Zoro is just a little flustered that Luffy knows it's a song about Zoro wanting him, although it was pretty obvious to Sanji too. 

“But-” Sanji starts to protest, as much as he likes the song it's not there yet, maybe they could play it in round three but surely not in round two!

“I've decided!” Luffy declares loudly and with a devilish grin. Zoro sighs in complete resignation, he's given up on trying to persuade Luffy otherwise, which is usually a sign that Sanji should do the same. He supposes at least that he and Zoro have made awesome songs with less and he certainly trusts Zoro to keep that magic going. 

When they eventually get to their hotel it turns out that there's some problem with the rooms, the idiot at the front desk is claiming that they never got Nami's booking and Nami is getting more an more agitated by this blatant incompetency. 

“No, look, you sent me the email confirming our bookings. See?” Nami growls, thrusting the phone into the front desk guy's face.

“I didn't send that.” The fat, jowly guy at the desk says in a tone which is simultaneously bored and condescending. 

“I don't care if you personally didn't send it, it came from this hotel!” Nami snaps waspishly. 

“Can't we just sleep in the Sunny?” Zoro groans, dropping his suitcase on the floor in boredom and tiredness.

“Zoro...” Franky says warningly under his breath, but it's too late. Nami whirls around on her heels and glares at Zoro hard enough that Sanji is surprised that he doesn't simply burst into flames!

“NO! They took my money and they are damn well going to let us stay here!” Nami snarls at him. Sanji sees Zoro's mouth open up to retort something stupid but Sanji manages to clap his hand over Zoro's mouth in time. 

“We'll just... go to the venue and check that everything is set up and they're ready for us tomorrow. Get all the information, you know? I'll take my car.” Sanji grins nervously, dragging Zoro backwards in an arm lock with his hand still over the other man's mouth. 

Franky perks up at the mention of Sanji's car and looks over at them.

“That reminds me Sanji, I meant to say but I forgot. I saw some dents in the roof, I think something must have fallen on there but I don't know what. I can beat the panel back into shape for you when the contest is over though.” Franky says to them as Sanji continues to drag the protesting Zoro out of the hotel lobby away from the glowering Nami. 

“Yeah, something big and stupid fell on my roof. Thanks for the offer though, I'll take you up on that. Let's GO Zoro!” Sanji says, and yanks Zoro fully out of the building.

“HEY!” Zoro snaps when Sanji finally lets go of Zoro. Sanji wipes his hand on his jeans, Zoro had tried to stick his tongue through Sanji's fingers to make him let Zoro go. He hadn't let go because of it of course but it now meant he was all slobbery. Gross. 

“There was nothing you were gonna say there that would have been a good response to that, you'd only have got everyone in trouble. Trust me.” Sanji promises, lighting up his cigarette and walking casually over towards where the Sunny is parked in the hotel parking lot. At the back his flatbed car is hitched up and with a fair amount of fiddling Sanji is able to get his car loose and he climbs into it, trailed by the still sulking Zoro. 

“Do you even know where this place is? This is a whole new town.” Zoro pouts as he slides into the passenger seat and buckles up. 

“Of course I know where I'm going. Much to my distain this is actually my godfather's bar that we're going to, I've been there far to many times.” Sanji says with a shudder. He leans up and checks that his rear view mirror is still aligned properly along with his wing mirrors, the journey has jolted all of them a little so he's glad that he checked. 

“I didn't know that.” Zoro remarks with interest before his face cracks into a dark grin, “Is this one of these things with your Dad being all passive aggressive to you? Like the school he sent you to?” Zoro guesses.

“Yes. You'll see what I mean when we get there. Iva's actually a good guy if you can get past his... you know... personality and his dress sense.” Sanji explains, remembering the horror of Iva's godawful outfits as well as his massive hair. 

“You sound so charmed by him.” Zoro laughs with an air of smugness that tells Sanji he's enjoying Sanji's discomfort. He knows that they have to go to Okama Way to perform but he'd really rather not. Zoro had better appreciate that he only volunteered for this stupid task just so that Zoro wouldn't get in trouble.

“Yeah.” he grumbles in agreement, steering the car out onto the main road.

The two of them fall into a comfortable silence as Sanji drives, Sanji almost thinks that Zoro is considering napping but the other man looks a little contemplative. Eventually Zoro decides to bring up what's on his mind.

“Hey, Sanji.” Zoro says slowly as Sanji focuses on which lane he needs to be in for this next turn.

“Yeah?” he answers absently, checking his mirrors and merging lanes. 

“Would we probably crash and die if I blew you whilst you're driving?” Zoro asks as casually as anything. 

Oh fuck. Zoro blowing him? Oh god, he can just imagine it now, Zoro leaning over and undoing Sanji's buttons and fly. His hot breath on Sanji's skin and his tongue on him. Sanji wouldn't be able to do anything, he'd have to drive and Zoro would take advantage of that to tease- 

Sanji just manages to avoid swerving into the central reservation of the road as his higher brain functions come back online at the threat of death. 

“I think that's enough of an answer!” Zoro laughs loudly and kicks his feet up onto Sanji's dash and settles down for a nap. 

Sanji's face is scarlet and his hands have a white knuckled grip on the steering wheel. He breathes in harshly through his nose and whines tightly in the back of his throat. No, he doesn't care if they die in a horrible fireball like crash, road head sounds fantastic! Everyone has to die at some point right? It'd be a hell of a way to go! Zoro however seems to be comfortably drifting off to sleep with no concern for how much of Sanji's blood he's carelessly rerouted with his words. 

If Sanji happens to drive a little carelessly for the rest of the way there and turn corners a little too sharply, resulting in Zoro's head clonking against the window a few times then he's sure that it's merely a coincidence. He would never be so mean to do something like that deliberately, never. 

Sanji pulls up to the hideously pink club with the eye searing neon lights, which are thankfully off at this time of day and stares at the whole gaudy thing with an air of resigned horror. He can't believe that he's going to have to play a show in a place like this. On the plus side he also spots Bonney's pink monster truck parked outside, it fits in rather well with the horrifying décor. 

“I think I see what you mean.” Zoro says in awe as they climb out of his car and shut the doors behind them. 

“Oh no, you don't truly appreciate the horror yet, let's go inside.” Sanji insists, leading the way to the side entrance and letting himself inside. 

Inside is lit up with casual lighting which probably doubles as the emergency lighting during a fire alarm. Sanji remembers it was as bitch to set up the emergency lighting in the Baratie and get the wiring right so they went off at the right time but could be turned on independently for when they were working in the bar doing the books or cleaning during the day. 

There are a few big round VIP style booths near the wall and Sanji perks up when he sees that Bonney and Law are already there and talking with Iva no less. All of them look up when Zoro and Sanji come in however. 

“Zoro! I thought you'd be too worn out after last night to show up here!” Bonney laughs loudly and even snorts a little with the strength of it. 

“Shut yer yap.” Zoro shoots back affectionately and drops into the booth at her side and shoves her for her comment. 

“I knew you and blondie here were together!” Bonney chirps happily, throwing her arm affectionately around Zoro's shoulder. Sanji smiles at them, they could almost be siblings with the way they act around each other. It must be nice for Zoro to have that relationship with a girl, especially since he knows that Zoro's actual sister died when he was young. 

“Ah, Candy-boy, a word please.” Iva says, sliding himself out of the seat and revealing his truly horrifying outfit which is comprised of a skintight leotard with diamanté spangles all over it. The spangles form the shape of a unicorn which appears to be shooting a rainbow out of it's horn. Furthermore whilst Sanji is not convinced that a hideously purple spandex leotard with sparkles on it could look good on anyone Iva's slightly pudgy figure itself doesn't do the whole ensemble any favours. His godfather is also wearing thigh high PVC red boots with substantial stiletto heels on them that squeak when he walks off, leaving Sanji to follow him. 

“Candy boy?” Zoro whispers as Sanji heads off. Sanji doesn't answer and instead just flips Zoro off instead. God he hates Iva. 

“When you asked me about the competition you didn't say that you were interested in it because you were competing.” Iva says sternly, as they reach the bar and are slightly out of earshot of the others. 

Sanji winces, Iva was right, he'd not been completely honest with him.

“I didn't say that I wasn't competing..” Sanji mumbles guiltily. Iva pouts his shiny purple lips in disapproval.

“You're a naughty boy, Sanji.” Iva scolds him and Sanji feels his entire face flush bright red.

“Jesus, don't say it like that Iva. You make it sound kinky.” Sanji hisses, his face burning.

“Sanji.” Iva says flatly, giving him a stern look. 

“I'm sorry, alright?” Sanji mumbles in apology. 

“That's ok candy-boy, I can never stay mad at you.” Iva grins, his purple lipstick glinting in the light. The stupid drag queen ruffles Sanji's hair affectionately in a way that makes Sanji squawk indignantly and quickly strive to repair his hairstyle before anyone sees him looking so ruffled. 

“Well I'm glad that's done.” Sanji says quickly, metaphorically shutting the door on the conversation and quickly striding back to the table before Iva can correct him. He drops into the booth a little too close to Zoro, not quite landing on his lap but pressed against him from knee to hip and from hip to shoulder. Zoro just shrugs and slides his arm around Sanji, making Bonney smirk in glee at being right.

Iva struts over to the table and settles himself on a high seat at the edge, flicking his legs one over the other in a way which affords all of them with a view of Iva's leotard clad crotch that none of them ever needed to see. Sanji winces in second hand embarrassment.

“So, the set order.” Iva says in a suddenly businesslike voice that surprises Sanji. He supposes that he shouldn't be. Iva is just as much of a business owner as Zeff is, and despite his flamboyant appearance and strange mannerisms he needs to have a solid head on his shoulders to run it. He's not just Sanji's mortifying godfather after all. 

“I don't know if Smoker had told any of you this or not, but Blackbeard was disqualified for trying to cheat. This obviously makes the numbers much easier for me because that means that only four bands remain and it's just a simple two by two match up.” Iva explains, they all nod. Smoker had indeed told them that before. On the plus side it means that Sanji is going to have to spend less time at Iva's club if he doesn't have to pass through two rounds of trials to get to the final stage. 

“First up will be Bonney.” Iva says. 

Sanji isn't sure what to think of that. The first slot in the night is a hard slot to do, you have the sole responsibility of getting the crowd warmed up and it can be harder to get a response. However it does mean that you get to set the tone of the evening and you're not being compared to anyone else's performance straight away, you get people to listen to you with fresh ears. A mixed bag all in all. Bonney seems happy with it as she nods in confirmation, still listening eagerly to see who it is that she'll be paired up against. Sanji doesn't know what he wants Iva to say next. He doesn't want it to be them that she's paired up against because he doesn't know how well Zoro can play in competition with a friend, but nor does he want her against Law because that means that they'll have to play against Baby and that's an event that Sanji would happily die without ever experiencing. 

“She will be against Baby 5, who will be following after. I shall let her know when she gets here.” Iva says officially. Sanji's heart relaxes and though he feels guilty about it he'd much rather be against Law than either of the ladies. 

“Great, that bitch is going down.” Bonney grins. 

“Then it's the Straw Hats third and then Law to finish the evening up. The victory rounds will be held at the end this time instead of in-between rounds as was done in Loguetown. I assume that will be fine with all of you.” Iva says looking at all of them. 

Sanji chews at his lip. He's a little bit anxious at following right after Baby, and in the middle of the night isn't a great place to be, it's an easily forgettable place so it could be dangerous. His misgivings aside Zoro nods for them, agreeing on behalf of all of them. He supposes as Zoro has been in the band longer he has more of a say in this regard, he's sort of Luffy's right hand man. 

“Well on that note, I'm going to go back to the hotel to catch some shut eye before practicing, my sleep was rather disturbed last night.” Law smirks, getting to his feet and sliding out of the booth. Sanji turns tomato red and slides down in his seat whilst Bonney giggles uncontrollably and Iva looks at him with curiosity and a catlike grin that suggests that he can take a pretty good guess at what Law was on about. 

“Oh hey, I need to smoke. I'll be outside!” Sanji says quickly, scrambling to his feet and following Law outside. 

“So... are you pleased with the line up?” Sanji asks conversationally as they exit the building together. He's also secretly hoping that if he distracts Law enough then he won't have to have any kind of discussion about the noises that apparently everyone in their entire building heard. He's got to admit that he's pretty mortified about the whole thing, it's okay for Zoro, everyone must think he's some kind of sex god now. 

...Not to say that they're wrong about Zoro in the respect, but still, it's the principle of the thing!

“Yes. I take this competition seriously though, it's not a game. But I'm pleased to see that you seem to be just as serious about it as I am, Bonney always treats these sorts of things like a game or a grudge match and Luffy is far too irresponsible for his own good.” Law says with a nod as Sanji lights up. The other man gives his cigarette a disgusted look though so Sanji is pretty safe in assuming that he's judging him for smoking, something that several musicians have done so in the past. Zeff always said he'd ruin his voice doing it, when he was younger he just did it to spite Zeff and be contrary but now it's just a habit that he's never bothered to kick. 

“Good luck.” Sanji mumbles, slightly embarrassed for smoking. He pulls the cigarette out of his mouth and kind of holds it off to the side, which is stupid because Law saw him light the goddamn thing, he's not going to have forgotten it in that time is he?!

“You too.” Law nods a little stiffly and then disappears off towards his car.

As Law shuts his car door Sanji returns his cigarette to his mouth and inhales, the tip of it flaring brightly. He holds it for a few seconds and then breathes it out in one steady stream. Zoro's never really said anything about his smoking, but perhaps if he's intending on staying with the band long term and actually going somewhere with this then it might be worth his while to quit. He wonders if Zoro minds the taste when he kisses him. He flushes a little red at that, still not quite able to believe that all of his wishful wanting of Zoro has materialised into him actually being with the man. It seems silly to be so aflutter over that when he considers what they had been doing last night, but he's always been a bit strange about that sort of thing.

He holds the cigarette between his thumb and forefinger for a moment or two whilst he leans against the wall of Iva's club. He watches the smoke peacefully rise from it into the air in graceful swoops. Could he give these up? He's not especially attached to them, and they do risk hurting his voice, they're not cheap either. But... well, he's done it for so long that it would just seem really strange not to do it anymore. It's more likely to be his long term habits that'll be hard to kick rather than the physical addiction itself. 

He's contemplating this when a squeak of tyres and engine draw his attention back to his present environment. A red and black convertible beetle pulls into the lot and Sanji immediately snaps to attention. That's Baby's car and like hell is he getting stuck out here alone with her. He can't help but remember Iva's words that she might be trouble to him, especially as she now likely knows about him and Zoro. More than that he doesn't want Zoro to get cornered by her either, in fact he wants that even less. 

He stubs his cigarette quickly out on the sole of his shoe and quickly slides inside the club, striding quickly across the room to where Zoro and Bonney are sat at the table in the booth casually chatting. Their conversation revolves around something to do with guitar makes and fenders or something? Whatever, it's not as important as this. 

“We need to go.” Sanji insists quietly, coming to a stop at Zoro's side. Zoro looks up at him with confused dark eyes. 

“We just got here.” He points out reasonably. 

“No, we need to go. Trust me, you don't wanna still be here in a minute. I think there's a back exit around that way somewhere.” He explains urgently, looking around the club to see if he can spy the other exit that he's sure is around here somewhere. 

A flicker of understanding passes over Zoro's face and his eyes widen in slight alarm. 

“Yeah.” Sanji nods, answering Zoro's unvoiced question. 

“Shit, okay. Let's bail.” Zoro nods, starting to get up from the booth. 

“She's here then, Baby I mean?” Bonney chips in, looking between them with her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

“She just pulled up outside.” Sanji answers, looking over his shoulder sharply at the door, petrified that she might have snuck in without him hearing and be standing right behind him like a horror movie serial killer. 

“Since when do you run away from anything Zoro?” Bonney asks, her words challenging and her gaze firm as she looks up at Zoro. The other man stills, halfway between sitting and standing. Hesitating and caught between staying and leaving. 

“I'm not running away.” He says, standing up fully in complete contradiction to his words. Sanji resists the temptation to roll his eyes. He can't let Zoro's ego get involved here, the other man is just as stubborn about defending his pride as Sanji himself is and if Bonney appeals to that then they'll never avoid Baby. He's willing to throw his own pride under the bus though, as long as it'll mean that the two of them escape from her. 

“I just don't want to deal with her, not after everything being on twitter last night.” Sanji answers for Zoro, throwing in the detail about their shameful outing on social media to lend more credibility. Like all good lies there's a grain of truth in it. He doesn't want to deal with her after that, but he's less concerned for himself and more concerned that she'll get violent and aggressive with Zoro. And yes, he knows that Zoro can survive what she can dish out, but goddamnit he shouldn't have to. 

Bonney looks at him with skepticism but he thinks that she might be buying it. For a moment he thinks that they might actually get out of there but no sooner has the thought crossed his mind than the door to the club squeaks open and he feels a dark oppressive aura roll through the room. Sanji's gaze flicks to Zoro through the curtain of his hair and he sees that Zoro's expression is a carefully schooled neutral and his body language is a very good approximation of normal as well. It's all fake though, he can tell that much. This is Zoro pretending to be fine. However what emotions are running behind that facade are a mystery to Sanji, but the mere fact that Zoro is trying to hard and so well to hide them infuriates him. 

Iva flutters over to Baby, questioning who she is and when she tells him he launches into the same explanation of the lineup and the rules as he'd given everyone else. Bonney looks displeased with seeing her at all and Sanji finds himself wondering just how much history the two of them have and whether or not it's all to do with Zoro, Sanji can understand her being pissed, if one of his friends had stopped seeing him because his girlfriend wouldn't let him then he's pretty sure he wouldn't like her much either. 

“Come on.” Sanji whispers softly, tugging on Zoro's arm. Zoro grunts non-committally and waves goodbye to Bonney and follows Sanji out of the side exit. As soon as they're out in the daylight again Sanji feels a weight lift off of his chest and he's finally able to breathe properly. The tension is just bleeding out of his shoulders when the door behind them opens again. Sanji glances behind them, expecting to see Bonney following them, she's about as unhappy to be in Baby's presence as the two of them are so it'd make sense.

Only it's not Bonney. It's Baby. 

It's strange to look at her, technically she's smaller than both Sanji and Zoro, skinnier too. But the way that she stands just seems to make her dominate the space in a way that's entirely incongruous for a girl of her size. Maybe it's her wild hair or her fearsome aura spreading out and taking up so much space but Sanji finds himself backing up all of the same. Zoro hasn't moved though, he's turned halfway between the direction that the two of them had been heading earlier and halfway towards Baby. The result of that is that he's directly facing Sanji, although his eyes are trained on Baby. 

“And where the fuck do you think that you're going?” She hisses, low and dangerous. A tendon in Zoro's neck jumps as he swallows, but he says nothing. 

“I told you that I wasn't going to go anywhere near you if-” Zoro begins.

“Did I ask you what you said? I asked you where the fuck you think you're going.” Baby snaps, cutting Zoro's answer short. 

“The hotel.” Zoro answers simply and though he's standing his ground Sanji doesn't need to be a mindreader to see that Zoro is really on edge. Baby is furious, her eyes are burning with rage and her whole body is so tense. Her fists snap shut angrily and Sanji is close enough to Zoro to hear the sharp little intake of breath that it causes. A casual observer would think that Zoro is as calm as anything, his face is perfectly neutral but Sanji is close enough to see otherwise.

“Why? So you can fuck him again?” Baby accuses, her gaze focusing on Sanji for the first time in this whole interrogative conversation. To his mortification Sanji actually cowers back from her eyes, everything inside his head is blaring at him to get away because she is completely dangerous. He might as well be staring down a tiger for all the reaction that his body is giving him. 

“No, that's not-” Zoro starts, shaking his head at her. 

“But you fucking DID, didn't you?!” She all but screams at him, her face a thundercloud of rage. Sanji hears the door open again quietly and sees Bonney emerge from it, her gaze turned towards Baby with a scowl. 

“You fucked that blonde little bitch so hard it make him scream for your hotel to hear him, sorry- her.” Baby snarls, her finger pointing right at Sanji. He blinks in confusion at that. 

“I'm not-” Sanji frowns, confused as much as he is insulted. 

“Yeah you are, you got Zoro to fuck you like a bitch, so that's just what you are. You're not a man!” She hisses at him and Sanji's jaw drops open in outrage and shock. 

“You'd better fucking take that back right now.” Bonney growls, having made her way right to Baby. The dark haired singer whirls around in surprise, backing off a little so that she's not got her back to any of them. Bonney looks livid. 

“Oh look, it's the other degenerate who always tried to steal my boyfriend away.” Baby snarls. 

“Sorry, I only go one way and Zoro's not it. You're just a paranoid girl who couldn't let your boyfriend have any female friends. It must burn you up to see that he's happy with someone else now, huh?” Bonney laughs, tilting her head towards Sanji and Zoro. 

“Bonney, I appreciate it, but this isn't anything to do with you.” Zoro says a little tightly. He looks genuinely concerned now and Sanji guesses that it's probably because Baby has the power to out the fact that they've never stopped dating. Zoro isn't her ex, he's still her boyfriend. It'd be madness to do it though, revealing that fact only raises more questions about their relationship, questions that Baby really doesn't want anyone to know the answers to. 

“I'm not going anywhere.” Bonney says, shaking her head. 

“Get lost.” Baby barks at her, for once agreeing with Zoro. 

“Make me.” Bonney retorts challengingly, setting her hands on her hips and staring Baby down. 

“Maybe everyone should just calm down.” Sanji interjects, not wanting to see either of these ladies fight each other. He's pretty sure that Bonney and Baby would both instantly go all out and that would be a really nasty fight. Bonney looks less than pleased with that suggestion, however Baby looks even less happy. 

“Don't you dare talk to me you... you... treacherous slut!” Baby howls at him and Sanji feels a stupid sting of remorse for upsetting a lady until he remembers exactly who this is and that quells it.

“Oi! Don't talk to him like that!” Zoro snaps angrily, taking a threatening step forward towards Baby, his posture suddenly angry and aggressive. Zoro was as passive as anything when Baby was insulting and threatening Zoro but the moment Baby turns and says something bad about him the marimo suddenly snaps into life. Why the hell does Zoro defend only him?

Baby seems more than a little taken aback by Zoro's sudden anger. Sanji wonders just how long it's been since Zoro has risked properly fighting back to her. 

“Seriously? Don't make this into something it's not. You're trying to get back at me, I get it. It's fucking sick and petty but I get it.” Baby snorts dismissively. 

“I'm not with Sanji just to get back at you. I'm with him because he makes me happy and because I can write again now. This isn't anything to do with you.” Zoro grits out, his teeth clenched in anger and his whole body just vibrating with tension. 

Baby looks like Zoro just slapped him. The idea that Zoro could apparently be emotionally involved in him at all rather than just using him to get back at her seemingly hadn't occurred to her at all. She looks hurt and absolutely outraged.

“Are you serious right now?! You can't be with him!” She yells, gesturing to Sanji with a sweep of her arm. 

“Why? Because they're both guys?” Bonney demands, chipping into the argument that has nothing to do with her once again. 

“Amongst other things wrong with this entire fucking scenario, yes, the fact that they're both men is an issue. Although considering that blondie here is the one getting fucked I'm not so sure about him being a man.” Baby spits at Sanji. A low rumbling growl rises up from Zoro's chest and Sanji fists his hand into the hem of Zoro's shirt at the back. As much as he'd approve of Zoro fighting back against her he has to admit that the guitarist is right about the fact that Baby would twist that situation against him and make him regret it. Either through the police or through getting them kicked from the competition. It's just not wise. Zoro relaxes a little in Sanji's grip, his dark eyes dart over to Sanji's own and he relaxes back a little further. Sanji can feel the muscles in the small of Zoro's back untense slowly although not completely.

“I gave you another chance but it's obvious you're just a close minded homophobic little child. And anyway, he's not your boyfriend, he's Sanji's and so it's really none of your buisness. Now get out of here before I decide to teach you a lesson.” Bonney snaps, her eyes ablaze. 

“Like I couldn't take you, you punk haired little dyke!” Baby shouts back. Zoro moves just as Bonney does. He catches her midair before she gets to Baby, having leapt at her in a snarl of rage with her hands out as if she was looking to claw Baby's eyes out in retribution for the slur. She probably was. 

Zoro has Bonney in his arms, holding her tight in what is almost a bear hug. He's murmuring something urgent to her and it's probably the same spiel about how attacking Baby is neither smart nor a good idea. The same thing that Sanji himself had been thinking when Zoro looked about ready to go for her. Bonney is still lashing about to get free and to attack Baby but the more that Zoro speaks to her the calmer she becomes. 

Baby turns to Sanji, her cold angry gaze now settling firmly on him. Instinctively Sanji backs up a little, he doesn't like her looking at him like that, not when she's this angry with him.

“So much for your fucking nice guy act, hm?” She says, quiet and deadly as she walks slowly towards him. 

“It's not an act, I... I care about him.” Sanji says, avoiding saying that he loves Zoro in case it pushes her completely off of the deep end. 

“If you actually want what's best for him you'll stop this and forget that anything ever happened between you two. Or else.” Baby threatens. Sanji's eyes widen, she's outright using harming Zoro as a threat to him now?! Suddenly every mark and injury, every drop of Zoro's blood and inch of bruised skin flashes behind Sanji's eyes and pure fire shoots through his veins. 

“Or else you'll what?” Sanji demands sharply, just daring her to fucking say it out loud. Daring her to admit the abuse that she commits and the hurt that she causes.

Baby's arm snaps back, her fist raised and time seems to slow down for Sanji. This is it. This is the moment where he has to decide if he can really fight her, or if he's going to run, or let her hit him. He can't run though, he can't leave the others here with her, no way. So it's hit or be hit then.

He freezes up, he's not going to be able to do it. 

Her hand halts in the air, a manicured hand grabbing her wrist. Purple sparkly nail varnish adorns nails filed into sharp points, they make slight dents into the fine almost translucent skin of Baby's wrist. They both gasp and follow the hand up to the leotard wearing body attached to it. Iva's gaze lands on all of them equally hard. 

“I don't know what's going on out here but I don't like it. By rights you should all be banned from the competition, but that would make Law the winner by default and very much ruin the whole competition. I'm going to let this go for now, but if any of this fighting happens again and I will not hesitate to disqualify any of you.” Iva warns, his voice icy and his gaze flicking threateningly to Sanji to let him know that godson or not he wasn't immune to that threat. Sanji shrinks back a little but returns his eyes to Baby who snatches her wrist back and stalks off to her car angrily. They watch as she makes a tight turn and skids out into the road, her tyres squealing at the mistreatment. 

Bonney and Zoro relax at the same time, though Bonney still looks furious at what Baby had said. Sanji supposes that it was a good thing that Iva had shown up when he had, otherwise his face would probably be less handsome and more like a train wreck. 

“Get out of here all of you, except you Sanji.” Iva adds, shooting a glare Sanji's way. Sanji cringes at this and throws his car keys to Zoro, knowing an un-winnable fight when he sees one. He reluctantly heads back inside the club and lets Iva close the door after him. He feels just like a little kid who's been caught doing something that they shouldn't and is about to get scolded. It's not too inaccurate, except for his age. Iva steers him towards the booth that they'd all sat in earlier and shoves him into the seat. He stands there for a moment or two with his hands on his hips, the picture of displeasure. With a irritated growl he sits down opposite Sanji. 

“So that's the psycho girlfriend then, the one who was trying to punch your head off of your shoulders I mean. I'm guessing that the green haired one is your boyfriend?” Iva says with narrowed eyes. 

“Yeah.” Sanji mumbles, sliding down a little in the booth seat with a rapidly reddening face. 

“I told you that she would be dangerous. But you could at least have warned me that this shit was going to be happening in my competition!” The aged pervert accuses him. Sanji actually feels guilty, as well as not disclosing to Iva that he was part of the competition he also neglected to mention that all of this crap was going to be happening with the competition as the backdrop. He's a shitty godson and it's a miracle that Iva just isn't 900% done with his shit.

“I told you his girlfriend was going to be dangerous didn't I candy?” Iva sighs, apparently Sanji looks pitiful enough for Iva to take pity on him. Sanji doesn't even bitch at him for the stupid nickname. 

“She's not dangerous, not to me.” Sanji mumbles, ducking his head in embarrassment

“Please candy-boy, I'm the only reason that your pretty face is still so pretty and not all mangled up. She has it in for you now, you can see that right?” Iva says in concern. 

“I'll be fine, it's Zoro that I'm worried about.” He answers with a shrug. 

“He looks like he can handle himself, a strapping young man like that. You have good taste by the way.” Iva purrs flirtatiously. 

“OH GOD! Stop that you decrepit old pervert! Stop perving on my boyfriend!” Sanji howls in horror, recoiling back into his seat. 

“So tell me, what's he like in the sack then? I bet he's got an even hotter body under-” Iva grins lecherously but Sanji leaps up from his seat, his face scarlet and his hands covering his ears. He flees the building shouting at the top of his lungs that he can't hear Iva, though it's not quite loud enough to cover Iva's side splitting laughter. 

Iva collars him just as he's making his way down the steps out of the club. Sanji glares up at him. 

“Hey, before you go, I've got a case of booze for you to take back to your old man. I want to know his opinion on them, they're all different. Wait there.” Iva orders him and disappears back inside briefly. Sanji hesitates, he doesn't exactly want to run errands for the old perv but equally his old geezer will be pissed if he just ditches on an errand that he could easily have done. Before he's even done thinking that though Iva reappears with a case of assorted liquors in a box and shoves it into Sanji's hand. 

“You're such a sweet boy!” Iva coos, reaching down to press a greasy purple lipsticked kiss against Sanji's left cheek whilst pinching the other one. It's not fair, Sanji's arms are full of booze so he can't even defend himself. 

“AUGH! GET OFF OF ME!” Sanji yells, escaping quickly. 

Nearly drowning in his mortification Sanji sprints back to his car and leaps into the driver's seat. A perplexed and rather concerned Zoro looks at him from the passenger seat, one arched eyebrow raised questioningly. Sanji tosses the box into the back of his vehicle with a series of loud clanking sounds and wipes the slick lipstick off of his cheek with the edge of his sleeve. Mercifully Zoro does not question any of this. 

“I hate my fucking family. Let's bail.” Sanji says quickly, shuddering and sharply turning the key in the ignition. 

“So denial, that's one of the things I expected. Though she reacted a little better than I thought.” Zoro says thoughtfully, kicking his feet up on the dashboard. 

“Oi, don't do that, if we crash your knees will go through your skull. And just how badly did you think that she was going to react?” Sanji snaps, batting at Zoro's legs. 

Zoro remains perfectly silent but puts his feet down in the footwell. Sanji wonders just what horrors Zoro may have imagined and how much it had been playing on his mind. He takes one hand off of the wheel and reaches across to Zoro and takes his hand, soft and gentle. He can feel all of the callouses on Zoro's skin from his guitar playing. Sanji squeezes Zoro's hand, not daring to take his eyes off of the road. 

“You're such a sappy loser.” Zoro bitches quietly, but he doesn't take his hand away and Sanji thinks that he looks a little more relaxed, from what he can see out of the corner of his eye at any rate. When Sanji has to reclaim his hand to turn the wheel Zoro looks more settled. 

Sanji wants to know what Zoro thinks will happen now, what will Baby do when she passes out of the denial phase and truly accepts that Zoro isn't doing this out of spite or revenge? It's probably going to be the fact that Zoro is emotionally involved with him that really sets her off, seeing as what they saw today was her reaction to them being physically involved. Not that today was a pleasant reaction either. He doesn't want to ask Zoro though, not now that he's a little calmer, besides speculation will do nothing to help them, it will only stress them both out. 

Still... Sanji can't help but relax a little. Now that Baby knows they don't have to be secretive about their relationship any more. He can hug or kiss Zoro when he likes, not just when they are alone. They don't have to be paranoid that someone will see them or, in Sanji's case, hear them. He feels his cheeks heat up at the thought, he feels embarrassed about the whole loudness thing but he really couldn't help it. Frankly he'd challenge anyone to be made to feel like Zoro had made him feel and not make some noise. It was hardly his fault that the hotel had such thin walls or that he was a singer with a powerful voice and good at projecting it. It was fate conspiring against him. Fate and Zoro's amazing cock. 

“Pervert.” Zoro smirks at him.

“What?! I wasn't- how did you know?” Sanji squeaks in horror. 

“Well, for one you're bright red, secondly you just told me and finally the light went green ages ago.” Zoro points out, indicating the traffic light that Sanji is pointlessly stopped at. He swears and guns the engine, leaving irritated car horns sounding behind him. 

When they return to the hotel Nami has not managed to wrangle them the correct number of rooms, the whole place is booked up with the competition being held and performers and staff all booked in as well as actual concert goers. No rooms means no rooms regardless of how much Nami makes the hotel owner want to die. She does seem a little pacified though so Zoro theorises that by this point the hotel owner is probably paying them for the privilege of staying there, rather than the other way around. Sanji made sure to scold him for such baseless assertions, regardless of the high probability of him actually being right. 

Franky outright told them that he doesn't trust them not to fuck each other on every bit of furniture on the Sunny and as such the two of them are not allowed to sleep in there overnight and he and Zoro will instead get the room meant for Franky and Usopp. Usopp doesn't mind, he seems to be pleased at the idea of camping out in the Sunny. Sanji is a little put out though, he didn't know that sex in a hammock was something that he wanted until he realised that he probably couldn't have it. Darn.

The group head out to get dinner at a place that serves all you can eat ribs, a poor business strategy in a world that contains Luffy. Sanji watches sympathetically as the manager of the restaurant watches in horror as his daily profit is effectively shovelled into Luffy's gaping maw. 

“The line up order is interesting. I will be very pleased to see how Bonney and Baby fare against each other.” Robin says thoughtfully, somehow managing the task of making eating a rib look delicate and dainty. The guys around the table on the other hand all look like cannibals with their faces smeared with blood like red sauce and grease from the ribs. 

“I think that Bonney would love nothing more than to hand Baby her own ass after today.” Zoro snorts, surprising Sanji. He'd assumed that they weren't going to say anything about the whole thing at all and he'd fully intended on keeping silent. Yet here Zoro is openly talking about it. 

“Baby was pissed that Sanji and I are together, she threw a bitch fit about it. She also got incredibly homophobic with Bonney right there, and you know how well Bonney takes that. I had to stop her from skinning Baby alive.” Zoro says casually. 

“Oh my goodness, that's horrible.” Robin frowns angrily. 

“Why'd you hold her back?” Nami huffs in irritation.

“Because I don't want Baby's competition to get kicked out and I like Bonney. Would you rather we faced her?” Zoro reasons. 

“Ugh, well if you want to be reasonable about it.” Nami sighs, but Sanji can see the smile playing on her lips, she's pleased that Zoro had the forethought to be that rational. Frankly Sanji is impressed as well, he's not sure that he would have had the sense to hold her back, or even if he would have done so at all. After all, it hardly counted if someone else gave Baby what she so rightly had coming...

Sanji shudders, disgusted at himself for his malice towards a lady. However cruel and wretched she might be. He supposes that it's good that at least Zoro has his head on straight. 

“What kind of things did Baby say to you?” Usopp asks darkly, his face like thunder. Sanji remembers that Zoro is actually Usopp's best friend and that the skinny keyboard player is probably insanely protective of him. Zoro however doesn't seem that bothered, waving a hand at Usopp as if to either dismiss the idea or to tell him that he'd explain later. Sanji doesn't know which. 

“So she just screamed and shouted then?” Luffy asks around a rib as he gnaws off more meat. This time Zoro doesn't answer and instead Sanji has to. He sees what Zoro is doing though, he's giving Sanji the choice about whether they say that Baby tried to relocate Sanji's charming smile to the back of his skull. 

“Pretty much. Ivankov chased her off though.” Sanji lies with a casual shrug. Zoro's certainly made a liar out of him, though he can't bring himself to feel bad at all right now. If he says about Baby trying to hurt him then they'll ask just why she was so angry when the two of them supposedly broke up so long ago. It's a whole list of questions that he doesn't want to answer.

“I want Bonney to win in that fight.” Luffy says with a nod, having considered Sanji's answer. Zoro doesn't look so sure, but then he's fucked either way. Either Bonney wins and they have to face a friend in the final round, or Baby wins and they have to face her in competition. All of that of course is assuming that they beat Law in the first place. Correction, they were all fucked. Ugh. Sanji is pretty sure that he's not the only one around the table thinking that as several members of their party are also looking a little despondent. 

That evening is spent alternating between practicing their set, eating shitty takeout and goofing off. Luffy has proven just how far he can get chopsticks into his nose and mouth at the same time, something Sanji could have happily lived for the rest of his life without knowing, and Usopp has constructed a tower of takeout boxes and is starting to play jenga with them. 

Sanji is most pleased though because he's managed to make a good deal of progress on the new song, changing his tone and pitch to try to make it fit best. It's probably not the smartest thing to be playing something entirely new to them for a competition, but it does mean that it will be something that no one will expect. It makes them unpredictable. Either way he's happy. 

Zoro however doesn't seem to be quite satisfied, something about the song isn't ringing 100% perfect for him, no matter how many times they go through it. Eventually the practice is doing nothing more than wear them out and make them all tense. Nami sensibly calls It a day and sends them all off to their rooms.

What with collecting their luggage and hauling it up through the hotel as well as making Zoro doesn't get lost en-route they're actually in the hotel room with the door shut behind them before it occurs to Sanji that Zoro might be expecting sex again tonight. Not that he has any problems with that at all, not after how amazing last night was. But what if he assumes that, makes a move on Zoro, and it turns out that he's not? He doesn't want to pressure Zoro into anything at all. Or what if he does something that Zoro doesn't like in bed... something that Baby has made him uncomfortable with and he doesn't say? He doesn't want to fuck this up at all, he cares about Zoro so much. It'd probably be safer to have himself on the receiving end rather than Zoro for the moment, Zoro is still new at this so it makes sense that he might be a little reluctant, though Sanji's first experiences had been from that side of the equation. But what if Zoro wanted Sanji to top but was too shy to ask? Would Zoro think him inconsiderate for not asking? Oh god. What was he going to do?!

Zoro however seems to have no such anxieties, pushing the two single beds together with a strong shove of his foot and then flopping down onto their soft surface with a loud squeak of bedsprings.

“My hand is so fucking cramped up and we've driven so much that I could sleep for a million years.” Zoro groans into the mattress, completely oblivious to Sanji's dilemma. Somehow though Zoro's words make Sanji crack an involuntary grin and he sits down on the edge of the bed. 

He walks his fingers across the bedspread over to where Zoro's right hand is. That's the hand that he uses on his fretboard, what with playing his guitar left handed and all. He traces his fingers gently up Zoro's and pauses as the marimo startles and looks at him curiously. Zoro doesn't look worried though or threatened, just curious. Sanji continues. He turns Zoro's hand palm side up and gently runs his fingers over the flesh of Zoro's hand, gingerly pressing down here and there over the muscles and tendons, they feel tight and sore. Poor Zoro. This he can do without worrying about fucking things up between them. There's none of the complications or hang ups of sex, no land mines that he's unaware of. Just him and Zoro. 

He takes Zoro's hand in his own and gently massages over the tight muscles, slowly bending the joints this way and that to relax everything. Zoro makes a fucking sinful noise and dissolves into a puddle of happiness on the bedspread, occasionally whining in his throat when he hits a good spot. After a while Zoro just reaches out to snag a hand in the front of Sanji's shirt and pulls the singer down for a lazy kiss. Zoro sighs into Sanji's mouth and tugs Sanji down on top of him, rolling so that his back is against the mattress and Sanji is sprawled atop of him. 

Despite how much Sanji is enjoying this, and he's enjoying it so much, he's anxious about the whole thing. What if Zoro is only doing this because he feels that he has to? He'd said before that Baby alternated between wanting to fight Zoro and wanting to fuck him, that could build up problems with the concept of sex in anyone. Shit, he shouldn't have slept with him last night, what if he's already messed up? Oh god, Zoro's been hurt so bad, he doesn't need to be hurt any more by anyone else! 

“She's wrong you know.” Zoro says quietly, pulling back from Sanji and resting his head flat on the mattress below him. 

“Huh?” Sanji says intelligently.

“That I was just doing it to get back at her. That's not what this is at all. I want this... all of this.” Zoro elaborates in a voice barely over a whisper as he runs his hands through Sanji's blonde hair. 

“And I know this is a fucking shit thing to do to you, to make drag you into this mess with her and I've no right to. She's my problem, not yours but... I'm selfish I guess. Either way, I've thrown you in the deep end here and it sucks.” Zoro apologises with a frown. 

“Hey, you're more than worth it. I was more than willing to help you get away from her even when I thought that there was never going to be anything happen between us. Don't apologise for letting me in. I want this too, I love you.” Sanji admits again, those three words still sounding a little strange, but meaning them with all his heart nonetheless. 

Zoro smiles and leans up to kiss him his hands still caught in Sanji's hair and feeling somehow far more intimate than almost anything they've ever done before. The only thing that has matched this level of closeness before was when they've been in the full swing of writing songs together, that feel of creation and not quite being sure where his mind ended and Zoro's began. He trembles slightly against Zoro, just overwhelmed with the feeling. 

He wants so badly to show Zoro just how much he wants this. He wants to shove Zoro down on the bed and just kiss him everywhere that he's not been able to before. He wants to really take in the sight of Zoro and pull him apart as much as Zoro did to him last night. He freezes in uncertainty, he's not sure whether he can though. He remembers the scratches and hickeys that Zoro had sported in the past, even then they'd given Sanji a sick feeling in his stomach. He doesn't want to risk being the one to lead if that will remind him too much of Baby. 

“Hey, are you ok? We don't have to...” Zoro frowns, stroking a hand down Sanji's frozen back. Now Zoro is looking up at Sanji with all of the concern that Sanji currently feels to him.

“No, no, no! Believe me, I want this. I just don't want to... ugh. I don't want to do anything that reminds you of her. The last thing I want to do when you're with me is to accidentally freak you out or hit some kind of scar that she's left you.” Sanji admits, tangling his hands in his own hair in frustration.

“I'm not made of glass, you stupid fuck. If something fucking bothers me I'll just tell you.” Zoro sighs affectionately, flicking Sanji in the forehead. 

“But I don't want you to have to do that!” Sanji exclaims, he doesn’t want Zoro to feel so uncomfortable that he has to actually speak up, but then again the thought of him not speaking up is so much worse!

“Stop being an idiot, I swear you're way twitchier about all of this than I am. Just trust me, I'll tell you if anything gets to me.” Zoro grumbles, though the soft way that his thumbs run over Sanji's hipbones suggest that he's not quite as annoyed as he seems. 

“I trust you.” Sanji mumbles, squirming uneasily in Zoro's lap, producing a pleased hiss from the other man that completely sidetracks him.

“So prove it.” Zoro grins at him wolfishly laying completely flat on the bed and casually stretching his arms above him as he watches Sanji languidly. Sanji looks down at the completely relaxed and slightly smug looking Zoro below him. He's still sat astride Zoro's hips from where the idiot had left him and it takes a few long moments of looking down at him in confusion before he realises just what Zoro is saying. 

Zoro wants him to prove it? Does that mean that he wants him to lead and prove that he trusts Zoro to say stop if he needs to?

“You... want...?” Sanji says soft and curious, running a hand up Zoro's side and up to his ribs. Zoro hums softly and shuts his eyes, a smile playing around his his lips. Sanji's system thrills in excitement at the idea of this. Curiously and tentatively he leans down over Zoro, his hands on either side of Zoro's head and his knees on either side of Zoro's hips. The other man doesn't seem at all like he feels caged in and so, still watching Zoro's reactions closely he leans down and bites at his neck, not too hard, but hard enough. Zoro gasps, but the way his hands run up Sanji's sides tell him that it was the good kind of gasp. 

Oh so slowly Sanji pushes Zoro's shirt up and kisses and nuzzles at every new exposed inch of skin as if they have all the time in the world. He's not in a rush, both because he wants to appreciate every part of Zoro but also because he wants to be sure that Zoro likes everything that he's doing. He feels kind of selfish for how their first time he was reduced to pure bliss and he knows that he can't have been a lot of help. He wants to pay Zoro back for that by being slow and appreciative. 

He peels Zoro's shirt off and lets his hands roam, eventually popping Zoro's jeans open as he kisses him lazily, trading bites to each other's lips. Sanji takes his own clothes off with a lot less fanfare, simply peeling them off and flinging them across the room until they land on the bags that they'd not even bothered unpacking before falling into bed. Zoro seems to appreciate him without his clothes on and Zoro breaks his little to no participation rule by exploring every part of Sanji's skin that's within reach. By the time Sanji gets to applying lube to Zoro and himself Zoro is participating a lot more and watching every reaction that plays across his face as Sanji's fingers work in and out of himself. When he climbs onto Zoro and slides down onto him things pick up a fair bit more speed. 

Sanji throws his head back, a breathy gasp escaping from his mouth. He can hear that he's saying something but he's pretty sure that it's nothing more meaningful than just 'oh oh oh' over and over again. Zoro's hips buck underneath him and his fingers dig tightly into Sanji's hips almost certainly leaving marks. 

“Fuck, your voice.” Zoro hisses, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. 

“You... have a sound kink.” Sanji pants, enjoying the slightly embarrassed blush on Zoro's face at the accusation.

“Only for your voice.” Zoro says smoothly and runs a hand up Sanji's bare stomach. 

“Oh, I can't-” Sanji gasps, he can't focus, he can't think, all he can feel is this. The perfect friction between their bodies and the overwhelming heat from Zoro's entire being. It's just all too much for him to process. 

“That's it!” Zoro gasps, sitting up sharply, though making sure to keep Sanji exactly where he is. 

“What's it? Don't you dare stop moving.” Sanji threatens, rolling his hips to get Zoro going again.

“That sound, your voice like that. That's what the song needs!” Zoro exclaims and buries his face into Sanji's neck, biting him and licking the skin right afterwards. 

“Oh fucking seriously? You're thinking about music right now when we're in the middle of this?!” Sanji yelps indignantly, shoving Zoro on the shoulder and stilling his movements. Way to ruin the moment idiot. 

“I'm always thinking about music, now come on. Make that sound again.” Zoro asks pleadingly, trying to use his grip on Sanji to make him move once more. But Sanji doesn't want to budge, not at least until Zoro apologises for getting distracted like that and hurting his pride so badly.

“Tch, no way. See if I make any sound ever again.” Sanji pouts, grinding into Zoro's lap and being pointedly silent about it. 

“I could make you...” Zoro purrs, moving as if to flip the two of them over. Sanji's eyes widen at that, if Zoro gets the control here then Sanji is quite literally fucked, he'll have no hope of keeping quiet, not if last night was any indication. He springs into action instead, shoving forward and grabbing a handful of Zoro's hair and pulling his head back to bite at his neck. The shift in weight topples both of them back flat onto the bed with him on top of Zoro. 

Sanji slides himself back down Zoro's body, getting Zoro fully seated in him from where they'd nearly separated in the fall. It feels so good and he has to focus on keeping quiet. With him silent he can hear the pleased sounding rumble in Zoro's chest, not quite a groan, but what one would sound like if kept unvoiced. He wonders what Zoro sounds like, he hadn't been able to hear him over his own voice the night before, perhaps now he'll get a chance.

It turns out that Zoro is fairly quiet as a lover. Sanji has to use the pace of Zoro's breathing and the quiet whines and curses to know what feels best to him. It's an interesting game to play, to see where he likes to be touched most and where feels best. He discovers that Zoro's sides are ticklish if you get too close to his underarms and that Zoro is especially sensitive on the insides of his wrists and his neck. Sanji of course exploits that knowledge and tries to keep himself as quiet as possible to make hearing him easier. It's not perfect of course, Zoro still manages to get a fair amount of noise out of Sanji, though considerably less than last night due to Sanji trying incredibly hard to not make a peep. Even so Zoro seems all the more pleased with each sound he can rip from Sanji's throat. 

“Sing it for me?” Zoro pleads in a breathy whisper. 

“If I do... you'll never be able to think about it or hear me singing without remembering this.” Sani warns, panting as he rocks down onto Zoro. 

“Perfect.” Zoro grins, licking a stripe up Sanji neck. 

It's difficult to sing like this and Zoro keeps cutting him off by kissing him and biting at him. Sanji is even distracted enough to keep forgetting the lyrics and just devolving into moaning and gasping. In fairness the lyrics of the song lend themselves to it pretty well and Sanji has to admit that it actually sounds pretty good with him moaning into it, regardless of how likely he is to admit it. Still, he'll make Zoro regret this on stage tomorrow. If he has to sing that song, and he will unless Luffy changes his mind, then Sanji is going to make Zoro remember every second of this on stage in front of as many people as possible. Including Baby. When he comes it's mid chorus and all pretence of holding a note flies out of the window as he completely shatters on top of Zoro with the guitarist not far behind him at all. They fall into a sweaty, sticky, satisfied tangle of limbs and Sanji is more than happy to curl up naked into Zoro's side and press sleepy kisses to his skin as they both drift off. 

 

Sanji is pulling his suitcase apart trying to find the perfect outfit for that evening. He could layer his outfit or just go with a simple shirt, but he doesn't want to look too stuffy and formal, even if he's the kind of guy who wears shirts all of the time. But equally he's not the kind to just rock band t-shirts like Zoro is and besides he doesn't really want to promote another band at their own gig and whilst Nami has shirts for their band it seems a little egotistical to wear their own merchandise on stage. He thinks that it's probably best to have a plain black t-shirt on with something else layered over it, then he can do it up if he wants or take the shirt off if he prefers. It's flexible. But should he go with the orange shirt or the blue? The orange goes nicely with his blue jeans, but the blue goes great with his black jeans. 

He's standing before the mirror holding one up and then the other with Zoro having long since abandoned the idea of talking to him as Sanji is far too focused on dressing. Instead he's sprawled across the bed shirtless with just his jeans on and nothing else, reading over the lyrics for their first song of the night and staring off into space. Sanji thinks that he's probably hearing the music in his head and still tweaking it, making small adjustments that only he can think about but nonetheless change the entire feel of the song. 

Sanji decides that he'll go with the blue shirt, he slides it on and leaves it open. He turns this way and that before the mirror before he deems that he's satisfied. After that he turns back to Zoro who is entirely absorbed in his reading. Sanji climbs gently onto the bed and lies on top of Zoro's back, just enjoying the warmth that the other man gives off. He wriggles up Zoro's back slightly and rests his chin on Zoro's shoulder to look at the paper, though he already knows the song on it. 

“Hey.” He says softly. 

“Finally done fussing, cook?” Zoro snorts. Sanji jabs him in the side in retaliation and bites at his shoulder a little. Zoro just laughs and topples Sanji off of him onto the mattress at his side. Sanji grins and just looks up at the shitty hotel ceiling he thinks about that word, cook. Zoro used to use it as an insult to him, saying that he wasn't a singer or a musician, that he was just a cook. Hired help and not part of the band. But the tone that Zoro says it in now is just teasing, affectionate and almost warm in Zoro's own peculiar way. Zoro's trying to rile him a little, but not much, just friendly hostility. 

“One of us has to look good moss-brain and you're not pulling your weight.” Sanji shoots back with a grin. Zoro barks out a laugh and pretty much does a push up on the bed so that he's on his hands and knees. He slides over to loom over Sanji, his bare chest above Sanji's own and his cold bare toes pressing against Sanji's ankles. 

“You saying I don't look good, curlicue?” Zoro challenges, his voice deep in a way that sets a whole swarm of butterflies loose in Sanji's stomach. Zoro looks more than good, he looks gorgeous and fuckable and Sanji loves it. He presses his palms to Zoro's hard muscled stomach.

“I suppose you'll do. You should probably put a shirt on at least or I might feel bad that everyone else gets to see what I do.” he says lightly. 

“It must be so hard being you, poor thing. It's gonna take me a lot less time to dress than you.” Zoro says, rolling off of the bed and snagging a crumpled up shirt out of his suitcase, tugging it on before throwing on socks, shoes and a hoodie. He's done in about a minute, if that. 

“You look like a hobo, a hot hobo, but a hobo all the same.” Sanji remarks his smile probably more affectionate than sarcastic though, oops.

 

Under the dimmed lights of the Okama Way they've finished setting up their set and already practiced their song several times in the bus. Zoro has been trying to catch Bonney and avoid Baby all evening, but as he's prioritised avoiding Baby he's not had any luck at catching Bonney. He clearly wants her to win so that they won't have to face Baby later, Sanji is torn on that front though. 

Either way there is little that Zoro can do by the time that Bonney and Baby stride onto their separate stages, squaring off against each other with a tension in the room that is positively palpable. Sanji and Zoro have nothing they can do as this happens, so they just stand in the audience with their hands twined together tightly. Sanji looks over to Zoro in the dimming pink light and reads the tension on the other man's face. He has no comfort to offer him, just his presence. 

As was discussed earlier it's Bonney who begins the show, not Baby. 

“Evening everyone!” She shouts out to the audience who all cheer back. 

“I'm Bonney and this song is something I wrote yesterday and today, just for this show. Having learnt some things about my opponent's views I felt this was the best response. I hope you all enjoy.” Bonney says, bowing with a flourish. 

At Sanji's side Zoro tightens nervously. Very few people can perform songs that new like they can and Sanji doesn't know how good it will be. Baby seems to have preemptively decided how it will be if the smile on her painted lips is any indication. Moreover there's every chance that Bonney's undisguised dislike for Baby will count against her instead of for her. Sanji thinks that in his experience so far Baby and Bonney are pretty closely matched in terms of talent, so an awful lot of this comes down to pure performance and showmanship. 

To Sanji's surprise Bonney slings on her hot pink guitar but doesn't play it straight away, instead her keyboard player begins. He's reading from sheet music which suggests an uncomfortable unfamiliarity with the music that makes Sanji's venue running frame of mind flash warning sirens, if a musician can't play a song by heart then they shouldn't be playing it on stage. A problem Sanji's never had himself but still one that he's seen others choke on. To his further surprise the song isn't the kind of gritty powerful music that he's used to hearing from her. Instead it's almost saccharine kawaii sweet of the kind of cutesy J-pop that's about as far removed from her usual style as can be. Her voice begins and it's light and sweet, innocent and big eyed. 

“Look inside,  
Look inside your tiny mind,  
Now look a bit harder,  
'Cause we're so uninspired, so sick and tired of all the hatred you harbour

So you say,  
It's not okay to be gay,  
Well I think you're just evil,  
You're just some racist who can't tie my laces,  
Your point of view is medieval,”

“Oh SHIT.” Zoro hisses under his breath. Bonney's eyes are fixed dead on Baby, her words pointed and about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face. Her words drip sweet sweet poison and though it sounds cool it's, technically speaking at least, nowhere near the strength of her usual skill. It's a fucking bold song though.

“Fuck you,  
Fuck you very, very much,  
'Cause we hate what you do,  
And we hate your whole crew,  
So please don't stay in touch,

Fuck you,  
Fuck you very, very much,  
'Cause your words don't translate,  
And it's getting quite late,  
So please don't stay in touch,”

At this Bonney actually fucking flips Baby off, big and bold and right in front of her. Baby blinks in astonishment and then laughs, too quiet to be heard over the music but still laughter. The thing is, she's not laughing with Bonney, she's laughing at her. Baby is taking this about as serious as a lion takes a house cat.

Bonney however grins right back, that evil looking smirk telling Sanji loud and clear that she's got something else up her sleeve that ought to wipe the smile off of her face. Or at least Sanji hopes that she does. 

“Do you get,  
Do you get a little kick out of being small-minded?  
You want to be like your father,  
It's approval you're after,  
Well that's not how you find it,”

Baby reels back at that line about her father as if she had been physically slapped with it. Her eyes are wide and horrified, that cut right to the bone. Zoro gasps in a breath, probably scared for what that will do to Baby but also no doubt concerned that Baby will work out as Sanji is doing now that Bonney had to get the dig from her father from somewhere and the most likely candidate is Zoro himself, their mutual connection. 

Still, Bonney sings on, pointing a finger directly at Baby.

“Do you,  
Do you really enjoy living a life that's so hateful?  
'Cause there's a hole where your soul should be,  
You're losing control of it and it's really distasteful,

Fuck you,  
Fuck you very, very much,  
'Cause we hate what you do,  
And we hate your whole crew,  
So please don't stay in touch,

Fuck you,  
Fuck you very, very much,  
'Cause your words don't translate and it's getting quite late,  
So please don't stay in touch,”

“Shit, she's not going to win this.” Zoro says, just loud enough for Sanji to hear. Sanji is inclined to agree, the lyrics are pointed but a little too obviously spiteful to rest easy on the audience. Furthermore it's way away from her usual style and those people who came here because they like that are going to be disappointed.

“Baby might be too shaken up to do a good job though...” Sanji offers hopefully.

“When Baby wants revenge she'll do anything to get it, no matter how she feels.” Zoro says shaking his head. 

“Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you,  
Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you,  
Fuck you,

You say, you think we need to go to war,  
Well you're already in one,  
'Cause its people like you,  
That need to get slew,  
No one wants your opinion,”

Bonney has committed herself to this totally and utterly and she winds up her finish with flare and utter resolve. She doesn't do anything by halves it seems. 

“Fuck you,  
Fuck you very, very much,  
'Cause we hate what you do,  
And we hate your whole crew,  
So please don't stay in touch,

Fuck you,  
Fuck you very, very much,  
'Cause your words don't translate and it's getting quite late,  
So please don't stay in touch,

Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you,  
Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you,”

With the last note hanging in the air she flips Baby the bird with both hands and flips down into a bow as the crowd applauds, her pink hair flicking over her head again as she straightens. 

Baby smiles a little slow and almost gentle. It's a predatory smile though, one that seems to say 'gotcha'. There's movement behind her and Sanji focuses on her band. They're a group of mostly girls, none of whom Sanji has ever paid any attention because Zoro has informed him that they're routinely rotated out through her label. They're not so much bandmates as they are backup artists and musicians used in recording. Baby doesn't have a band because she's can't work as a group, or so Zoro has told him. Nonetheless one of the girls today has an electric violin and that perks Sanji's interest, he wonders if she's plagiarised from Robin this time.

The music starts with a flick of Baby's hand, the electric violin starts and then joined by the keyboard building to a powerful level alongside it. Baby shuts her eyes and starts to sing.

“Looking up from underneath,  
Fractured moonlight on the sea,  
Reflections still look the same to me,  
As before I went under,”

Her voice is smooth and perfect with obvious power behind it and it makes the hairs on the back of Sanji's neck stand up on end. Fuck, Bonney doesn't have a chance does she?

“And it's peaceful in the deep,  
Cathedral where you cannot breathe,  
No need to pray, no need to speak,  
Now I am under all,

And it's breaking over me,  
A thousand miles down to the sea bed,  
Found the place to rest my head,  
Never let me go,  
Never let me go,  
Never let me go,  
Never let me go,”

Her bandmates or backing artists cut in then and Sanji can see why they're all female. They're not just playing their instruments, they're vocally backing her up too. As she reaches the end of the verse her head tilts back up and her eyes snap open. Sanji can feel the power in her voice, he can sense it almost, just before she unleashes it. 

“And the arms of the ocean are carrying me,  
And all this devotion was rushing out of me,  
In the crushes of heaven for a sinner like me,  
But the arms of the ocean delivered me,

Though the pressure's hard to take,  
It's the only way I can escape,  
It seems a heavy choice to make,  
And now I am under all,”

The whole audience is enraptured and Bonney herself is staring wide eyed at her. She doesn't seem regretful for her song choice though, clearly to her saying what she had to was more important than winning. Sanji can't hold that decision against her but he can't help but wish that she hadn't done it. 

“And it's breaking over me,  
A thousand miles down to the sea bed,  
Found the place to rest my head,  
Never let me go,  
Never let me go,  
Never let me go,  
Never let me go,

And the arms of the ocean are carrying me,  
And all this devotion was rushing out of me,  
In the crushes of heaven for a sinner like me,  
But the arms of the ocean delivered me,”

Sanji feels a rush of anxiety fill him. He knows that his own voice is good but... can he really stand up to this when it comes to his turn? He'll be crushed if he helps them all get this far only to lose to Baby because of his lack of talent and skill. 

“And it's over,  
And I'm going under,  
But I'm not giving up,  
I'm just giving in,

I'm slipping underneath,  
So cold and so sweet,

And the arms of the ocean so sweet and so cold,  
And all this devotion I never knew at all,  
In the crushes of heaven for a sinner released,  
And the arms of the ocean delivered me,”

Zoro's hand tightens in Sanji's as Baby and her singers continue through the song. Sanji looks to Zoro and sees his mouth set in a grim line. Zoro doesn't say a word but tugs Sanji along to Bonney's stage, that's where they're to be performing shortly and they need to be ready. Still, Baby's song continues filling the air around them, almost too loud and too strong for a venue of this size. She should be filling out a giant concert hall and she probably will be. Sanji shakes his head, he can't let her get under his skin or else he'll let everyone down. He'll let Zoro down and he can't do that. 

“And it's over,  
Never let me go, Never let me go,  
And I'm going under,  
Never let me go, Never let me go,  
But I'm not giving up,  
Never let me go, Never let me go,  
I'm just giving in,  
Never let me go, Never let me go,

I'm slipping underneath,  
Never let me go, Never let me go,  
So cold and so sweet  
Never let me go, Never let me go”

As Baby finishes the room erupts in applause and the verdict between who won out of Baby and Bonney is more than decided. Shit. Baby doesn't even look at them as she climbs off of the opposite stage and flounces into the back rooms. Now it's his turn. Sanji is nervous, he's never been nervous like this since their first gig together. But just like that first time Zoro leans in and whispers something to him that saves him. 

“Don't sing for them, don't compete with her. Just sing for me, like last night.” Zoro whispers, pulling Sanji close and running his fingers through the hair at Sanji's temple, pushing his fringe back as he does it. 

“I can't sing on stage like I did to you last night you pervert! Last night was as much sex sounds as it was singing! It'd be practically pornographic!” Sanji squeaks, his face colouring beet red. Zoro's sharp toothed grin spreads wide and dirty across his face.

“All the better. You know you've given me a kink for your voice, sing for me and see how bad you can wreck me.” Zoro challenges. 

Sanji's mind zeros in on the stage. Competition? What competition? No, his only challenge is to make Zoro need a change of underwear after this song and to leave him shaking and bright red just from the power of his voice. The band climbs up on stage but Sanji barely notices as his mind is so focused. He settles in place slightly diagonal to the microphone and with Zoro mirroring his position, he's going to get a front row seat for ruining the man. Brilliant. 

Luffy's drums start up and Sanji lets his eyes slide shut as Zoro's almost dreamlike guitar comes in. He licks his lips teasingly and leans into the mic, his voice sweet and almost sleepy. 

“In your faded raincoat and tangled winter hair,  
Cheeks a little rosy in the February air,  
And running through the subway to catch the uptown train,  
Spend the night just dancing,  
And running through the subway to catch the uptown train,  
Spend the night just dancing,”

He allows a little bit of a needy whine to float into his voice as he opens his eyes and locks them right with Zoro's. The guitarist is already colouring high on his cheekbones, this is going to be easy. 

“I want you, yeah I want you,  
I want you, yeah I want you bad,  
So bad I can't think straight,  
So bad all my bones shake,  
So bad I can't breathe,”

Sanji tangles his hands in his own hair much like he did last night with Zoro and like Zoro did to him. He lets Zoro's guitar music wash over him and even allows himself to dance ever so slightly. He then leans into the microphone, up close and personal. His eyes lock with Zoro's and never waver as he starts to sing again.

“And in the midnight quiet, outside the world away,  
We could have just one more night that you could stay,  
And in the light of morning for twenty one days straight,  
There you are beside me,  
And in the light of morning for twenty one days straight,  
There you are beside me,

And I want you, yeah I want you,  
I want you, yeah I want you bad,  
So bad I can't think straight,  
So bad all my bones shake,  
So bad I can't breathe,”

Zoro looks strained but he is still irritatingly able to hold himself together. Sanji can't have that now can he? So if Zoro wants him to sound like he did last night then Sanji can certainly do that. He sings again but at the end of the chorus he stretches the 'on' out into some pretty scandalous moaning

So won'tcha? Oh, won'tcha say it?  
So won'tcha? Oh, won'tcha give in?  
So won'tcha? Oh, won'tcha come oh, oh, oh,”

He drags that on for some time, looking at the scarlet faced Zoro watching him with his mouth slightly agape. He kicks it up a notch. Hell everyone here has pretty much already heard what he sounds like in bed thanks to fucking twitter so he might as well go for broke here. Zoro's shining eyes and brilliant grin promise Sanji all kinds of rewards for this later but he's still got more to give.

“Ah! I can't breathe!”

Zoro stills in stunned silence, his hands actually frozen and everyone else does too, the whole room is silent for a beat before Zoro shakes his head and starts playing again. Sanji's grin is so smug and wide it might well split his head in half. 

“'cause I want you,  
Yeah, I want you,  
I want you,  
Yeah, I want you bad,

So bad I can't think straight,  
So bad all my bones shake,  
So bad I can't breathe,”

Sanji continues singing through the end of the song but now when he sings that he wants Zoro the guitarist himself leans in and adds his own voice to those words, pitching it lower and quieter, not unlike how he is in bed. Now it's Sanji's turn to go red. 

“I want you,  
Yeah, I want you,  
So bad I can't breathe,

I want you,  
Yeah, I want you,  
So bad I can't breathe,”

Sanji figures that he might as well fuck it, end this performance on a high note. He fists his hand in the front of Zoro's shirt and hauls him closer, the microphone and Zoro's guitar being about the only things that are keeping them apart. He sings the last chorus right into Zoro's goddamn face. Fuck subtle. 

“I want you, I want you,  
I want you, I want you,  
So bad I can't breathe,  
So bad I can't breathe,  
I can't breathe,”

The song finishes and the audience fucking explodes in screaming and applause, so much so that it almost deafens Sanji, and this is from a man standing near the speakers. He grins to the audience but feels Zoro's warm hand yank him off stage before he can say anything. The somewhat concerned looking Law climbs onto the other stage but Sanji doesn't get a chance to listen to him because Zoro drags him away from the stage and through several doors. They're in some kind of room but Sanji doesn't get a chance to have a look around because Zoro throws him at the wall almost hard enough to hurt and then slams into him. 

“Your voice is fucking criminal.” Zoro whines and bites at Sanji's neck. 

“You started it.” Sanji points out panting and getting a rough handful of Zoro's hair and tugging at it. 

Zoro grinds him into the wall and suddenly his hands are everywhere, underneath Sanji's shirt, groping his ass, messing up his hair. Sanji's pretty sure he's got hickeys now at the very least but he's not going to complain, not right now anyway. 

“Shit, Zoro, unless we lose we're not going to have time for this!” Sanji pants, using up the last of his rational thought to communicate that thought. Zoro bites his skin and Sanji simply whines, not unlike how he did on stage except for the fact that this one is real and not under his control. 

“Don't care.” Zoro rumbles, pulling Sanji up off of the ground and encouraging the blonde to wrap his legs around his waist. Sanji no longer cares either, all of his higher brain function as been shut off and he's okay with that. Dimly he can hear Law's music through the shut door but he doesn't much care right now he suspects that later he'll be a little sad that he didn't get the chance to listen to him. 

Zoro shoves him against the wall and pulls away from Sanji right after that. Sanji whines needily thinking that Zoro has, perhaps sensibly, changed his mind. He's about to beg and protest until Zoro drops to his knees and grabs for the button on Sanji's trousers. The whole thing is moving so fast but Sanji really doesn't care, or rather he's not going to protest at all, he cares plenty though. This wouldn't even be so hot if it wasn't for the fact that Sanji can see just how far he's pushed Zoro with his voice alone. 

Suddenly everything is heat and he feels the tip of Zoro's nose bump against his pelvis as Zoro goes from nothing to all of Sanji in his mouth. Sanji's yelp is probably loud enough for the whole building to hear and he swiftly claps a hand over his mouth to stifle it. 

Zoro's hand comes up and catches Sanji by the elbow. He pulls his arm down and pins it to the wall by his wrist, doing the same to the other one too. 

“Oh fuck, Zoro. Everyone will hear!” Sanji whines, trying to squirm his hands free but having no luck at all. 

“I don't care, I want to hear you, everyone else just got to anyway. I wanna hear you for real.” Zoro growls, pulling his mouth off of Sanji's cock before diving right back down on it and pulling a loud moan free from Sanji. 

The singer bites his lip and tries to hold on to the sounds. He manages it to come extent but with the speed that Zoro's going at he won't have to hold out on making noise much longer because this will all be over super quickly. Sanji finds himself illicitly thrilled by the fact that there are hundreds of people in the next room and yet the two of them are here doing this. He groans audibly, trying though he might to hold back the volume somewhat. 

Zoro does something amazing with his tongue that sends a ripple up Sanji's spine and makes him gasp. 

“Oh Zoro, please, please, please.” Sanji begs in a desperate voice. This time it's Zoro who groans and the vibration of that noise runs through Zoro's mouth and right into Sanji. It's the last thing that he needs to tip him over the edge. The punch of pleasure nearly bends him double and he digs his hands into Zoro's hair hard as he comes. He should probably have warned him but Zoro doesn't seem to have even the slightest bit of a problem with this at all. 

Zoro rises to his feet and presses Sanji back against the wall again for a kiss. He happily obliges, Zoro takes like Sanji and alcohol. The idiot is free to drink because he's not going to have to drive back, Sanji on the other hand brought his car because he'd thought he might take that booze back to Zeff on the way home, so he can't drink. Still, bitterness about that aside Zoro tastes great. He's all boneless and useless but is very much looking forward to paying Zoro back for that favour.

“Uh. Guys? You need to get back out here we're gonna have to get back on stage.” Usopp's voice comes through. Zoro startles but thankfully doesn't pull away from Sanji. Normally that'd embarrass him but seeing as the front of his trousers are still open with everything on view he'd rather that was hidden by Zoro's body. Red faced he looks across what he now recognises is a store room to the equally flushed Usopp standing at the door. 

“Usopp...” Zoro says, his voice almost a petulant whine like he's some kid being told that they can't have dessert now or it'll spoil their appetite. Usopp rolls his eyes and walks off, obviously confident that Zoro will follow. He's right though because as soon as Usopp is gone Zoro pulls back and gives Sanji a longing look and takes a step back from him. Sanji is leaning against the wall, a little weak kneed and more than a little embarrassed at having been walked in on, though it would have been far worse a few seconds earlier. He's not even going to ask Usopp how he knew where they were because he probably heard him. 

Still, Zoro's expression is so torn and needy.

“Soon, I promise.” Sanji vows softly. Zoro takes a deep shaky breath and nods, pulling himself together as Sanji zips up and buttons up. As they walk to the door he tries to make his hair less of a mess but it's probably a lost cause. 

It turns out that they do have to go out and perform again because whilst Law's performance was apparently good the audience determined that they liked theirs more and Baby is just finishing up playing her victory song. Sanji's stunned and gleeful because Law's loss means that they'll be in the final! On the other hand it means that they'll be in the final against Baby of all people. Shit. 

Sanji realises that he's actually forgotten what song they were supposed to be playing for their victory song if they won. Thankfully though he's still pretty good at recognising what song the others are starting and he's got them all learnt inside and out. Technically he was supposed to begin at the same time as Zoro but he starts a beat or two behind. Zoro is playing the song that he free wrote when Sanji was with him that one time after the wedding and so Sanji is technically a little late with the first line of “Let's get fucked up and die” but it's a live gig, things are allowed to be a little different to how they are on the recordings.

The song goes well and the audience applauds, even Law seems to be quietly happy with their performance and so Sanji feels more than a little guilty for ditching out on hearing his song as Law was gentlemanly enough to stay for theirs. Either way they're the closing gig of the night and once they're done they disappear back into their dressing room and the audience disperses. 

“Hey, I'll drive back on my own. I've got something to drop off on the way.” Sanji pipes up and gives Zoro a quick significant look and a suggestive eyebrow waggle. 

“What is it?” Nami asks Sanji, looking over her shoulder at him as she chugs on a bottle of water and then offers the half drunk thing to Zoro to finish. 

“Oh, just some booze for my old man.” Sanji shrugs innocently. 

“I'll keep you company, make sure you don't get lost.” Zoro suggests and the room collapses into fits of laughter. 

“Yeah, he could listen to whatever direction you gave him and go the other way!” Luffy guffaws.

“Shut up!” Zoro says and chucks the empty water bottle at Luffy's head. 

“You'd probably get back before us!” Usopp chimes in with a giggle that earns him a punch in the thigh from Zoro. 

“I appreciate the offer, you can ride with me.” Sanji says as straight faced as possible. In actuality his plan is to ride Zoro in the back seat but the rest of them don't need to know that. 

It's an ingenious plan really, they just loiter around, taking longer to pack their stuff up so that the others go ahead without them. They take all of the instruments because they're safer in the Sunny than in the bed of Sanji's vehicle. He's parked out of the front of the Okama way so it's not as if they have to go far. 

He waves his goodbyes to Iva and is just walking past their dressing room with Zoro at his heels when Baby comes out of hers and glares at them in the hallway. 

“Get.” She orders Sanji in a no nonsense voice. 

“Sorry, no.” Sanji responds, shaking his head. 

“Baby, just... leave us alone.” Zoro adds, steering Sanji outside with a palm in the small of his back. Sanji happily goes along.

“You really think that he loves you Sanji? Remember that he said that he loved me once and he cheated on me to be with you. Don't you think that he'll just do the same to you?” Baby shouts at Sanji, clearly figuring that she stands more of a chance there. Sanji hesitates and turns around to look at the woman. 

“I know how we both feel and if we don't work out I'll be heartbroken but I don't intend to ever give him cause to do that to me. But if he would be happier without me then I wouldn't stop him leaving.” Sanji answers honestly, and he means it too. He doesn't want that to come to pass but if any of it did then it'd just show that the weren't the right match for each other. He'd rather end a failing relationship sooner rather than drag it out and waste both of their time and energy. 

Baby clearly hadn't expected that answer and she seems to be struck dumb, gawping at the pair of them as if she can't quite comprehend Sanji's words. He supposes it's not surprising though, she's keeping Zoro with her against his will just because she doesn't want him to be with anyone else. 

“We're done.” Zoro says flatly and pulls Sanji away. The blonde relaxes a little, he wants to get home with Zoro and curl up in bed with him. He wants to stay under the covers with Zoro and just experience his warmth radiating through him.

“Don't you walk away from me, we're not done here!” Baby shouts, chasing after them down the alleyway. 

“I don't know how to be clearer about this, I don't want to be with you any more! We are done.” Zoro finally yells, cutting both Sanji and Baby silent in shock. Sanji had been starting to think that Zoro would never ever say it. 

“You don't mean that, you've said that before and you're still here. So just save us all some time and cut this spiteful little charade short. You're just pissing me off and leading this dumb blonde on.” Baby snorts, jerking her head and Sanji and making another wave of irritation well up inside of him. 

“I mean it! I wanted to help you, I really did. I guess I felt that I owed it to you because of the fact that I couldn't protect you when we were younger or because you weren't always so bad, but I can't do this shit anymore.” Zoro sighs, running a hand through his hair in an obvious gesture of tiredness. 

“This is bullshit! I always did so much for you! You can't just leave me!” Baby yells, actually stamping her foot angrily. Zoro looks a little guilty at that, seeming to deflate a little as he looks off to the side, unable to meet her gaze. 

“Yeah, you did. I owe you a lot for back then, but then that never gave you the right to do all of the damage that you've done to me.” Zoro says softly, looking back at her. Zoro's gaze is unwavering this time and slowly he brings one hand up and taps the new scar over his eye. Baby actually flinches at that, her eyes immediately snapping to Sanji to see if he's picked up what Zoro was heavily implying. Sanji sighs, there's no point in hiding it now is there?

“Who do you think was picking him up and patching him up from all the abuse lately?” He says in resignation, his arms folded. This whole thing is just tiring. He's tired of Zoro still being with her, he's tired of her acting like nothing is wrong at all and most of all he's tired of acting like he can deal with this. He can't, not anymore. 

“Abuse?!” Baby shrieks suddenly, flying into a rage. 

“You know nothing of abuse!” She snarls, leaping for Sanji with her fist pulled back, ready to clock him. 

“But I know plenty.” Zoro snarls, his hand tight in Baby's hair, pulling her back towards him whilst she yowls and hisses like some feral creature. Sanji just stands in stunned shock, both from the sudden attempted attack but he's also frozen between the conflicting demands of his conscience. On the one hand Zoro's hand is in Baby's hair, hauling her backwards with little regard as to whether it hurts her or not and Sanji always abhors violence against women. But on the other hand this is Baby that he's talking about here, she's cruel in ways that Zoro has never been and Zoro is doing this to protect him. He's caught between helping Baby and wanting to hurt her himself, as such he's frozen to the spot, entirely useless and numb. 

“You're hurting me!” Baby yelps, her hands in her hair.

“Good, maybe you'll get a hint of what you've done to me. Do you know how many scars I have because of you? You know how messed up I am thanks to you?” Zoro shouts at her. He shoves her back and lets her go. 

“Leave us alone, I don't want anything to do with you. You're sick and broken and there's nothing else I can do for you, god only knows I tried. I thought if I was good enough for you I could make you better, but you're too messed up for me to fix and all I've done is make myself worse.” Zoro shouts, his voice is getting louder by the word and Sanji is seriously worried that someone is going to come out here and see this. The last thing they need is Baby playing everything up for an audience. 

“Zoro, come on, she gets the point so let's go. If she won't stop following you then we can get a restraining order or... or something. Come home with me.” Sanji pleads softly, tugging on Zoro's arm. He'd never usually be so soft and sweet but Zoro is so highly strung right now that he doesn't want to startle him.

Zoro's gaze snaps around to him and Sanji can feel just how tense Zoro's muscles are under his shirt. Zoro's gaze melts after a second or two though and Sanji feels him relax somewhat. Zoro nods, just once and quickly, but Sanji gets his point. They need to bail. Zoro lets himself be pulled gently away from Baby who has watched their entire exchange with wide, dark eyes.

Sanji is just pulling Zoro away when Baby catches his cheek with a hard punch that was so quick Sanji didn't even see it, he just caught a blur. Zoro reacts, whirling around with his own fist raised. A look of fear flashes over Baby's face before being replaced with a smug grin. 

“Go for it, take your shot. I'll go to the police crying and they'll believe me well before they'll ever believe you. You may be covered in scars but there's no proof that I gave them to you and as if they'll believe your little boyfriend as a witness. Come on, go for it, right here. I'll end your career and get you thrown right in jail, please, do it.” Baby smiles, touching her own cheekbone lightly with a slender finger. 

“Fuck you.” Zoro snarls furiously, his fist trembling with anger. 

“Now, now, Zoro. We've been here before. You throw a hissy fit and I remind you that you can't leave and eventually you break and come crawling back to heel like you should. I own you, so just save us all some time. Or if you're not going to do that, then hurt me and I'll end you.” She says with saccharine sweetness that chills Zoro's blood. 

“You've tried to leave before?” Sanji says under his breath. Zoro shoots him a look at that, as if the whole question is unbearably stupid. But it's not Sanji's fault, Zoro's never mentioned it before. 

“You're inviting me to hurt you, baby?” Zoro says slowly, sounding less like her name and more like a sarcastic endearment. 

“Do your worst, you don't have the guts to truly hurt me.” she scoffs. 

Zoro drops his fist and Baby smirks triumphantly. Sanji's heart stutters, is Zoro taking the high road here and leaving with him or is he surrendering to Baby again? As it happens he does neither, he just leans a little closer into Baby's space. 

“I'm sure you've heard that whole 'you become what you hate the most' crap right? And there's no one you hate more than your father Morgan. But I've got to tell you Baby, I'd give anything to have you be like him rather than like you. It'd be a welcome break.” Zoro says, his voice low and sweet, like it is when he sings. Baby recoils back as if Zoro had actually punched her, but Zoro doesn't stop, moving forward into her space again until he's got her trapped against the alley wall, one hand on the wall at either side of her head. 

“The worst your father used to do to you was to get shit-faced and come home and slap you around a little. He was mean and violent but he couldn't hold a candle to you. You are cruel and evil.” Zoro hisses at her, his voice dangerous.

“Stop it! You don't know shit, I'm nothing like him!” Baby orders, her voice shaking and her eyes wet. Zoro has hit a nerve and is twisting the knife right in it. 

“You're worse, so much worse. You've tried to take everything I love away from me so that the only thing I have is you, you think it'll make me love you but you're wrong. I don't love you, I haven't in a fucking long time. I was afraid of you and now I just pity you. You're sick and broken and there's nothing human left in you to love.” he growls at her. Baby's lip trembles and a choked little sound comes out of her. 

“You're so fucking small that the only way you can feel worthwhile is to try to tear me down. I say something you don't like and you try to cut out my fucking eye as punishment, I didn't get you the right flowers and you broke my ribs, you had a bad day and I got a black eye. Your father was a bastard for hitting a kid about but you knew how that felt and you decided to be worse.” Zoro says, all of his rage and frustration pouring out of him in one long torrent. Sanji is stunned into silence. Zoro's not hurting her as such, he's just talking to her really, but... he'd be blind to not see that this is hurting Baby. She looks on the verge of tears and she's shaking all over. 

“You... you don't mean that. Zoro, I love you...” Baby whimpers, tears spilling over the edges of her lids and streaking mascara down her face in sooty streaks. 

“And I loathe you.” Zoro snaps back, his voice cold and viscous.

“I'll... I'll kill myself if you leave me! I'll have nothing to live for!” Baby insists, her voice desperate as she sees her last chance to hold onto Zoro and grabs it with both hands. He can hear the quiver in her voice, she's genuinely terrified. Regardless of how cruel she is to Zoro she seems to genuinely believe that she needs him and Sanji believes her when she says that she will kill herself without him. She is deeply deeply sick and Sanji can fully appreciate that now. 

“Not my problem. Get help, you need it.” Zoro adds, sounding sincere rather than cruel in that last sentence. He shakes his head and shuts his eyes as if trying to shake himself out of this whole situation. When he opens his eyes again it's Sanji that Zoro looks at first. His eyes dubious and searching, as if he's worried that the words he's said might have put Sanji off of him. Sanji has to admit that this is a side to Zoro that he's not seen before, but he's fighting for his only chance to get away from her, for them to be together and most importantly for him to be free of her clutches. 

“Please... get some help.” Zoro repeats softly and then pulls Sanji away, their fingers twining together with soft warmth that sends heat through Sanji's stomach. It seems like this last bit of kindness from Zoro or perhaps the contrast of his harsh words to her and gentle actions towards Sanji is what pushes her over the edge. She sobs harshly and pushes past Zoro and runs off out of the alleyway, running like they're chasing her or something. 

“I feel bad about that.” Zoro says quietly, his frown deep. 

“Technically she did actually ask you for it. I feel pretty shitty about that too, I hope she's going to be okay...” Sanji agrees. As much as he hates Baby right now he feels sorry for her, perhaps it's his weakness to women but... well... this whole thing must have just crashed into her like a freight train. It clearly wasn't how she's envisioned that encounter going at all. 

“I really hope she doesn't hurt herself.” Zoro says with an edge of worry to his tone, looking warily at the mouth of the alleyway as if he's considering running after her. The roar of an engine startles them both and Baby's car streaks past the opening of the alleyway and off down the road, screeching as it goes around the corner. Whether she means herself harm or not there's nothing that they can do about it now. 

“Let's just go home, I don't want to hang around here any longer. I don't want to talk to anyone either, can we just take your car back?” Zoro asks. Sanji looks at him and sees how tight and tense Zoro looks, he sees the red mark on Zoro's face that's already starting to blossom into a bruise from where Baby punched him. They don't want to have to explain any of this to them at all. 

“It's out the front.” Sanji says by way of an answer. He leads the way and pulls out his phone, he texts Nami that the two of them are leaving together and not to wait for them to get to the Sunny. He says that they'll see them at home. It'll be quite a bit of a drive but Sanji hasn't had anything to drink tonight so he's more than capable of it. 

Zoro trails behind him silently, his own guilt and pain weighing him down. All the same Sanji is proud of him. That wasn't pleasant but Zoro will surely be better off for it. That of course will be of little comfort to Zoro right now and the blonde is sure that Zoro will not appreciate his thoughts on the matter. This was always going to be something that Zoro was going to have to deal with on his own. Sanji is more than happy to help him feel better and to comfort him if he wants it, but he's outside of Zoro and Baby's relationship and therefore the end of it isn't something that Sanji can or should try to interfere with. He did his job of trying to physically protect Zoro and take him out of danger, not that he did a great job as Zoro did get hit, but the emotional stuff and the nitty gritty of their breakup is outside of his realm. 

They reach Sanji's car, dimly lit by the offensively coloured lights of the Okama Way club. They're parked right on the corner, probably closer than is legal in fact, but they're not overhanging the crossroads in any way. The last thing that Sanji wants is for his car to get dinged by someone driving from the road that crosses the Okama Way's road. His car is banged up enough right now without anything else getting to it. 

Zoro walks out into the road and around to the passenger side door. Sanji parked a little strangely to get this spot and as such the passenger side is in the road rather than the driver's side. Zoro waits for a car to pass before opening the door and sliding inside. Sanji takes a moment to pause and look through the back passenger windows to see the crate of alcohol that Iva gave him. Even though he'll drive past his father's place he should probably go and give the booze to him tomorrow rather than tonight. No sense in waking the old man up.

With that decided he climbs into the front of the car and shuts the driver's side door. Zoro is already buckling his seatbelt up as Sanji slides the key into the ignition and gets the engine going. The night is a little chilly so he presses the rear window de-mister, planning to allow that to heat up and clear the condensation in the cab before they pull off. Zeff always mocked him for driving like a little old lady when it came to things like that but Sanji always liked to have good visibility. Unlike the asshole who's just flipped on their highbeams at the crossroads in such a way that they shine right in Sanji's eyes through the window. 

“Ugh, highbeams moron.” Sanji bitches, reaching for his seatbelt to buckle in. Zoro looks out of the window, squinting in the harsh light. 

“Is that...?” Zoro begins, but the roar of an engine cuts him off, it's not Sanji's engine either. 

Sanji registers several things one after the other.

First is the sight of the car deliberately hurtling towards them at full speed, the black and red paint work blurred by the velocity of the vehicle. It's swerving at the crossroads, aiming away from the straight of the road that would carry it by them and instead pointing right at them. Second is his reflex to yank Zoro towards him, not that he can move him far because he's already done his seatbelt up, unlike Sanji. Thirdly is the impact against Zoro door, so hard that it slams their car onto two wheels and bends Zoro's door right in. Then he feels the jolt as the impact runs through the car and slams him against his own door, his head crashing hard into the glass of his driver's side window. Then everything is sounds and sensations. The sound of shattering glass and twisting metal, the sound of Zoro's agonised yell, the blinding pain in Sanji's temple, the whirl of movement and then finally stillness.

He comes to with a gasp and the sensation that he's not been out long at all, a few seconds at most. 

The car is tilted at a strange angle with Zoro slightly higher than he is. Zoro is bent double hissing in pain. 

“Z...Zoro... you ok?” Sanji asks thickly. His mouth tastes of blood and Sanji's not sure if he bit the inside of his cheek in the crash or if it's coming from somewhere else. His tongue feels fine though, thank goodness. 

“My arm.” Zoro grunts, straightening upwards with some difficulty.

Zoro's forearm is bleeding and Sanji has a fucking sick feeling that the white he can see in the rip in Zoro's skin may just be bone. 

“Oh fuck, oh fuck.” Sanji swears. He squirms in his seat and pulls his phone from his front pocket, dusting shattered windscreen glass off of him as he does so. He dials the emergency number and holds the phone to his throbbing head as he waits for someone to pick up. 

“Hello, what is your emergency?” A woman on the other end of the line asks him. 

“We've... we've been hit by a car. We were just parked and the thing hurtled across the road and crashed right into us. We need an ambulance. My boyfriend's arm is... is.. broken and there's a- a lot of blood.” Sanji says, stumbling over his words as blind panic and adrenaline rush through his terrified system. 

“What's your location? Are you hurt too?” The woman asks, her voice calm under pressure and highlighting all of the cool that Sanji currently doesn't have.

“I... I don't know. A little maybe. It's him I'm worried about. We're outside of the Okama way club, we were just playing a gig there, we're musicians.” Sanji offers pointlessly, information tumbling out of him whether it's pertinent or not. 

“There's help on its way, they should be with you in minutes. Can you see the person who hit you? Do they need medical attention too and can you describe the vehicle to me?” The operator coaxes him gently. 

Sanji kneels up on his seat to look, glass biting into his knees as he does so. He hisses in pain and steadies himself on the back of his seat. The car is still pitched up on two wheels, held up by... something. As he leans up he can see that it's the bulk of the car that hit them that's tipping them like that. It's a black and red convertible beetle and he knows it right away. 

“It's his ex's car. She hit us... it was deliberate.” He says numbly into the phone, peering through the dark to see her. 

Zoro's head snaps up at his words and he looks out of the window on his side. The glass is all blown in from where the door bent inwards. Zoro's leg is pressed up against it weirdly but Sanji can see that the door was damaged whilst he'd pulled Zoro away from it and that the guitarist is just resting oddly against it. Nothing seems injured or broken there, he'd probably saved Zoro's leg from being broken at the very least. 

Through the void where the window was he sees Baby's head rise up from the deflating airbag. Her car, like all cars, was made to withstand a front on impact just fine and though her car is smaller than Sanji's beast of a vehicle it hit them side on, the weakest part of it. She looks more or less ok, a little bruised and a little bloody but ok. She looks up and her eyes lock with Zoro's, completely ignoring Sanji. 

There's a moment, a long drawn out moment where everything seems to stop and Sanji can sense that there is something important going on between them. But the moment flashes by as suddenly as it froze and before he knows it her car is squealing back from them, the tyres and engine protesting as she forcibly pulls her car from the side of his. 

“SHIT!” He yelps, forgetting the phone for a moment as they drop down onto four wheels with a slam that rattles Sanji's brains and makes Zoro scream in pain from the impact. 

“She's driving off!” He shouts down the phone.

“Can you see her licence plate?” The woman asks urgently.

“No, it's too dark and she's gone. But it's a black and red convertible Beetle and I know the driver.” Sanji says with a growl and hangs up. He'll deal with the cops when they get here, tell them who she is and which way she went but right now Zoro is his priority. 

He shoves his phone back into his pocket and carefully leans over to the softly cursing Zoro. There is a lot of blood in his lap. That is almost certainly broken bone that he can see out of Zoro's arm. What little good there is to be taken from this situation is that it's come out of the top of Zoro's forearm rather than the inside, so it's probably missed lots of vital veins and shit. It's bleeding like crazy but he's not spurting blood across the cab like one of his slasher movies. His hands hover, not sure what to do. There's a thought about this injury floating in the back of his mind but he cannot and will not allow himself to examine it right now, it's just too scary and he has things to do. 

“Ok, we need to get you out. I'm gonna unbuckle you and we're gonna get you out. Ok?” Sanji says, with calmness he doesn't feel. It's as if he's talking to a small frightened thing, not to Zoro. Zoro who is braver and tougher than he is. But right now Zoro is hurt and for once there is something that Sanji can do about it. He's not relegated to patching up after the fact, right now he can help mitigate damage by getting Zoro out of the unsafe car and getting him out carefully. Who knows if Baby might come back to finish the job. 

It occurs to him as he holds onto the fabric of the seatbelt holding Zoro in and carefully unbuckles him. She deliberately ran her car into them, right into where Zoro was. She was trying to kill them, or at least trying to kill Zoro. Who knows what Zoro would be like right now if Sanji hadn't pulled him that little bit away from the door out of a knee jerk instinct. Some of the twisted metal of the door might have severed an artery in his leg and he could well be dead right now. Zoro is too young and too talented to die right now, even if dying young and talented is a proclivity of rock stars the world over. Zoro can't do that, he's not achieved his dream yet. 

With this stupid thought in his head he slowly reels the seatbelt back in, giving Zoro's damaged left arm a wide berth until he can let the thing go. He doesn't know what else was hurt in the crash in terms of the car and he doesn't want to be in it if it goes up like a giant hollywood fireball. 

“O-okay... lean on me and we can get you out of here through my door without using your arms. Rest your head on my shoulder and I'll support you.” Sanji says numbly, letting himself focus on logistics rather than fear. If he can do something it'll all be fine. 

With a long low stream of curses Zoro does as Sanji instructs and gingerly the two of them get him out. Sanji is just clambering out of his door when Iva appears at his side, evidently brought out by the noise of the crash. They both get Zoro out of the car and leant against the wall of the club. There's less blood now, a lot of it is all over Sanji's upholstery and Zoro's jeans, but now that Zoro is lit by the street lights and the neon lighting of the club he can see that the blood isn't flowing too freely, the snapped bone must be partially clogging the wound. Good, it means he won't bleed out. 

“I called for help, on... on the phone.” Sanji says disorientated, patting himself down, suddenly not able to remember which pocket he put it in. 

“Me too. They're nearly here.” Iva says gently, a hand on Sanji's shoulder. There is a distant sound of sirens coming closer and Sanji relaxes a little. 

“Sanji, you're covered in blood. You're hurt.” Iva says, his eyes wide in fear.

“Zoro's.” Sanji says shaking his throbbing, spinning head. He hit the window in the crash and he'll probably have a lump on his head like an egg, but his window didn't shatter so it can't have been that hard. He kneels down before Zoro and holds Zoro's head in his hands, the man is shaking ever so slightly from the adrenaline. He looks up at Sanji, his eyes almost crossing from how close they are. 

“My arm.” Zoro says simply, his voice tight. 

“I-it'll be ok.” Sanji chokes out, holding Zoro close. 

“No, what if... what if I can't play-” Zoro starts.

“No!” Sanji cuts him off sharply. Zoro is voicing the horrible sick thought that has be curling in the back of Sanji's mind like a snake. Zoro is a guitarist. He needs his hands and his arms to play and Zoro is left handed to boot, the same hand whose arm is currently in bits. 

“I can't move my fingers.” Zoro presses urgently. 

“That happens with breaks, it'll be fine.” Sanji insists and the squeal of wheels and lights inform him that the emergency services are here. A medic crouches down next to Sanji, gently taking his space as Sanji shuffles aside. It's a lady medic and she has a soft calm voice as she introduces herself and asks Zoro's name and age. Simple questions to put him at ease.

“I can't move my fingers.” Zoro repeats to her as she shepherds him inside the ambulance. 

“They're going to have to operate on this but I've seen worse, you'll be fine.” She says soothingly, setting Zoro on the floor of the ambulance with his legs hanging down to the floor. 

Zoro's going to be fine. It'll be ok. Sanji relaxes and all of the chemicals keeping him upright, sane and moving start to ebb. He feels dead inside, all worn out and hollow. He sags a little and a police officer steadies him.

“Sorry.” Sanji mumbles, shaking his head and sending droplets of blood dripping from his long blonde fringe. 

“What happened? The dispatcher said that you were crashed into by a woman, someone you know?” The other officer says and Sanji realises that he'd just asked this before, Sanji just hadn't processed it. 

“Yeah... his... my boyfriend's ex. I know her car an' I saw her before she pulled off again. Went that way.” Sanji responds, gesturing woozily in the right direction. The officer who caught him murmurs something into a radio, giving quiet instructions for following that up. Right. Someone needs to catch her. Of course. 

“I need to go see him.” Sanji says and stumbles over to Zoro. Both medics are with him now, the woman from earlier and the other who Sanji presumes was driving. Or something. They're going over the rest of Zoro, checking for more injuries but they seem quite pleased with themselves, Zoro must not be too bad elsewhere. 

The man looks up at him and makes his way towards Sanji, looking him up and down. 

“'m fine.” Sanji says, preempting the man's question and waving him away. 

“Sir, have you been drinking?” This isn't the medic asking that, it's one of the officers. Sanji turns around unsteadily, coming down from the chemicals or whatever. One officer is looking over Sanji's poor wreck of a vehicle and peering into it with a torch whilst the other, the one who spoke, approaches him. 

“Uh-uh.” Sanji says shaking his head and instantly regretting it as the world pitches sharply to the side and he stumbles. He catches himself on the side of the ambulance and slides to the floor in a daze, his vision white and black fuzz like TV static, kind of how it sometimes happens if you get up too fast. 

“Sanji!” Zoro's voice calls in worry from the inside of the ambulance.

“Sir, let me ask you again. How much have you had to drink tonight?” The officer repeats, kneeling at Sanji's side. 

Sanji doesn't respond. He can't respond. He's too busy throwing up violently by the ambulance's wheels, the nausea came from out of nowhere and hit him right in the gut. 

“There's booze all in the back, the whole thing reeks of it.” The second officer says, coming closer. 

“It wasn't open, he was delivering it for me to his father.” Iva interjects in Sanji's place. Sanji coughs and spits, his stomach done with torturing him for now. 

“Blow into this son, long and hard until I tell you to stop.” One of the officers says, holding something before Sanji's face. There's a tube on it. The male medic is hovering at the edge of the officers, clearly wanting to offer assistance but also seemingly interested in the results of this test. He realises that they're breathalysing him. 

Sanji does as he's told and blows into the tube, it gives him something to focus on apart from the dizzying spin of the world. 

“Zero.” The officer says, sounding puzzled. 

“Get out of the way.” Another man says. Sanji keeps his eyes screwed shut, his head and his stomach are killing him. 

“What's his name again?” the voice asks.

“Sanji, it's Sanji. Is he ok? What's going on?” Zoro says, his voice cutting through the haze in Sanji's mind like lightning. 

“Sanji, open your eyes for me. That's good.” The male medic says, it had been him speaking and his face swims into view before Sanji as he does as he's told. 

“Is this blood yours or his?” The medic asks him gently, using the same voice Sanji had used to Zoro when he got him out of the car. Calm and soothing. 

“His, I'm fine.” Sanji mumbles, his tongue feels thick and useless. 

“Ok, let me just look at you.” The medic says calmly. He slides a gloved hand over Sanji's face and pushes his hair back, it's sodden and wet with blood and it sticks to his skin. It's gross. He keeps pushing, trying to tuck it behind his ear. Sanji hears the sudden intake of breath from the medic and both cops. 

“How is he still walking around?!” The cop hisses, recoiling. 

“Ok, Sanji. I need you to look at this light.” The medic says, not answering the cop and instead shining a bright light in one of Sanji's eyes a few times and then the other. The medic swears under his breath. 

“I'm fine, it's just a bump.” Sanji says, his hand coming up to his head, but the medic bats it away.

“Don't touch, we need to get you to a hospital. Now.” The medic orders him and pulls him to his feet and pushes and pulls him into the back of the ambulance and passes him over to the female paramedic. 

“Compound depressed parietal skull fracture, within the hairline. MTBI and unequal pupil size, gonna call ahead for a scan.” The male medic says in jargon that Sanji doesn't understand. She female medic nods as her counterpart shuts the back of the ambulance and climbs into the front. 

“You need to lie down and try to stay awake. Do you have any ringing in your ears?” She asks, easing him to the bed whilst Zoro sits on the bench at the side, cradling his snapped arm. This is wrong. Zoro should be on the bed and he should be there. 

“No, I'm fine. Zoro's the one who's hurt, what are you doing?” Sanji protests, trying to get up.

“I need to stay sitting up for my arm, otherwise the bleeding will be worse. So you need to lay down, be out of the way.” Zoro says quickly, cutting in. 

Sanji squints at him, trying to work out if that makes sense. His brain feel like it's full of cotton wool. He supposes that laying down might jostle Zoro and he doesn't want to hurt Zoro more. He reclines back on the bed, trying to keep out of the way. The nurse or medic or... what is she again? She's fussing at him instead of Zoro though. 

His world spins and lurches and Sanji isn't sure if it's the ambulance moving or just him. Voices are indistinct but panicked sounding, urging him to stay awake. It's stupid though, he's not sleepy, everything else is going away. Like it's vanishing into the distance. And then, like the lights being switched off in his head, everything turns off and vanishes. 

 

A/N: Phew that was a long chapter. Songs this time were:  
Fuck you – Lily Allen  
Never let me go – Florence and the machine  
I want you so bad I can't breathe – OkGo  
The last song which is just referenced is L.G.Fuad by Motion City Soundtrack


	19. Chapter 19

Soft hospital lighting and the faint sound of machines reaches Sanji's ears. His head aches like someone put on a pair of steel toes boots and decided to give his head a solid kicking. 

“Fuckin' shitting fuck.” Sanji curses softly, his hands coming up to his head. Under this fingers is a strange synthetic texture and a warm arm on his elbow stops him from moving more.

“Careful there little eggplant.” Zeff's voice says, startling Sanji. 

He's in a hospital room, alone apart from his old man. He's laying in bed covered in more wires than he knew could possibly exist. The memories hit him in, well, a crash. He jolts upright and feels his head throb with a sharp smack of pain. 

“Zoro! Is Zoro okay? Wh-where is-” Sanji gasps, moving to throw back the covers. 

“He's fine, or in better shape than you at least. Sit your dumb ass back down, shrimpy.” Zeff berates him, shoving his hand in Sanji's chest and forcing him to recline back again. The world throbs and spins unpleasantly and at least for the time being he's compliant enough to stay there until the ride stops. 

“Wh-what... what happened?” Sanji mumbles, squeezing his eyes shut. 

“You were both hit, another car t-boned you.” Zeff says slowly. 

“After I- after I- I passed out.” Sanji corrects, blinking the swimming lights out of his eyes. 

“Oh. The ambulance brought you both here. Zoro had surgery to pin his arm back together, he's fine now, which is a pain for me because he won't stop hassling me to get in here and see you. Wouldn't surprise me if he was leaning against that door right now.” Zeff grumbles, gesturing to the hospital room door with a jerk of his head. 

Sanji leans up, his vision cleared now. Zoro's shadow doesn't appear to be at the frosted glass window pane in the door but Sanji supposes that he could be nearby. Sanji returns his gaze to his old man, he looks drawn and tired. Though relief is covering his face right now he still looks concerned. It shouldn't surprise him but in some way it does, he always thinks of Zeff as being so strong and so to see him so shaken always disturbs Sanji.

“Oi, I'm ok.” Sanji says softly, reaching his hand out and placing it on top of his old man's hand, feeling the slightly thinner older skin and the webbing of veins that crisscross Zeff's hand. 

“You nearly weren't, they thought you had brain damage. A bit of your skull was bashed in you know, but you were still up and fussing over your stupid boyfriend, you dumb idiot.” Zeff says, glaring at him but his voice lacking bite. Sanji's care over Zoro might piss the old man off but he certainly doesn't disapprove of the reflex to help, he knows that Zeff would have done the same if he'd been in Sanji's position and it had been Sanji in Zoro's place. 

“They did surgery on you so you're sporting a dumber haircut than usual under those bandages.” Zeff adds, pointing to Sanji's head. 

“Wh-wh-what?” Sanji yelps, stumbling over his words, his hands flying up to his head. He pauses though, his hands freeze on the bandages, he probably shouldn't unwind them to see his hair, especially if they're holding his brain inside his head. He'd really rather it stayed in there rather than outside his head. 

“Sanji... say something.” Zeff says slowly, looking up at him from his place in the shitty plastic hospital chair at Sanji's bedside. 

“S-s-s...” Sanji trails off. He's intended to actually say 'something' but he can't say it. He can't get the word out. Shit, he's been stumbling over his words since he woke up and he'd not noticed. Even though he got over this when he was twelve stuttering is never really the kind of thing that's completely cured. When he's stressed or drunk sometimes it'll trip him again. It's not been like this since he was a kid though, that feeling of the word jamming in his throat and suffocating him, like he's choking on it and he needs someone to give him the Heimlich manoeuvre or something to get it out. 

He stares down at Zeff terrified. His father is looking at him, assessing him. Without a word spoken between them Zeff reaches out and presses the call button on the remote in Sanji's bed. When the nurse arrives Zeff stands up and quietly explains what has happened, Sanji sure as shit can't. He feels that stupid feeling he always used to get with his stutter, like a physical barrier had appeared in his throat and he just couldn't force the words past it.

His mind races, he doesn't want this to happen again. He'd worked so hard to get rid of the fucking thing and now he's got it back? His hand goes to his head, to the place that aches and where the bandages are the thickest. Is this really the thing that's caused him to regress like this? But... they have a show to do, the final no less. He can't sing if he's going to get stuck like this. He used not to be able to sing in front of anyone, when he tried everything would seize up and he couldn't get a note out. The thought of that happening to him on stage is utterly petrifying. 

Regardless of whether he wants it to happen or not though he can't deny the fact that it is happening, he's stuttering again. At his most optimistic he can convince himself that it will pass in a day or two when the damage to his head settles down. What if it doesn't though? What if he has to spend years and years getting rid of the fucking thing again like he did last time? He had it from the time he learnt to speak until he was twelve, he can't take that! The band can't wait that long for him to be able to sing again. He'll... he'll have to quit if he doesn't get it back in time. He's pretty sure that his friends wouldn't fire him, he'd just be useless, the band cook and nothing more. Zoro would have to go back to bearing all the weight of singing and guitar playing on his own. He won't let that happen, he won't allow his friends to deal with that, if he quits then they can hire someone new. Someone who can do their job properly.

Will Zoro still want to be with him though? If he can't sing then how can he be Zoro's muse? He doesn't think that it's all that Zoro's attracted to him for but it's gotta be a pretty fucking huge part right? Right? He certainly doesn't want Zoro to stay with him out of guilt or obligation and, well, clearly Zoro has a track record of doing just that. He doesn't want to lose Zoro too, he can't bear that. 

“Sanji, you're hyperventilating.” Zeff says calmly, his hand startling Sanji when it touches the middle of his back. He's right of course, his breathing is out of control and it's making him light headed, he's shaking all over too and his skin feels like it's broken out in a cold sweat. This is pretty much his worst fear, damaging or losing his voice, and here it is coming true. 

He swallows, his tongue thick in his mouth and his saliva absent as he tries to reign in his reactions. He imagines it as if he was smoking, deep breath in, hold, exhale and repeat. He feels the amount that his lungs fill increase each time as he slows his breathing down from sprinting gasps to calm exhales, the panic ebbs out. Usually he'd sing if he was feeling a bit like this, the way he has to control his breath to get the words and pitch right stop him from freaking out like this. He can't do that now though. His breathing notches up again as the thought crosses his mind and Sanji has to focus again to bring it back in line. 

When he opens his eyes again there is a doctor standing at the edge of his bed, Sanji wonders where the nurse went but he supposes that the nurse guy went to fetch the doctor that he has here. The doctor doesn't really talk to him, he talks more at him in fact. He quizzes him through tests and Sanji stumbles out answers as the doctor checks all of his vitals. 

“Well, I think we want to keep you in until the afternoon for observation, but barring any untoward symptoms I think you can go home today. He will be supervised, yes? He needs to be observed constantly, if he starts feeling suddenly sleepy when he shouldn't or behaving strangely in any way then he needs to be brought right back here. I'll get the nurse to schedule a follow up appointment with the clinic to get his stitches removed in ten days and replaced with temporary ones. Here's a pamphlet on post surgery infection signs and information about the medication he's been-” The doctor drones.

“Fuck that! What about his speech?!” Zeff snaps, his voice cold, quiet and venomous, the way that Zeff's voice only is when he's really angry. This is not the blustery anger of their arguments but real danger. 

The doctor seems a little taken aback, his eyes wide in shock both at Zeff's outburst and the question too. 

“That's nothing to do with me, I'm a neurologist not a speech therapist.” The doctor almost spits disdainfully. 

“There was no damage that we could see to his actual brain and therefore this is unlikely to be because of anything physical. If it's just swelling problems then it will calm down in a few days. Here's your pamphlet, I'll speak to the nurse about discharging him.” The doctor says in a clipped voice, thrusting the paper into Zeff's hand and then exiting the room in a swirl of white lab coat tails.

Sanji and Zeff are alone in the room together once more. Zeff doesn't say anything but his fingers fuss slightly on the middling length hair at the back of Sanji's head, smoothing out his bedhead hair and pulling strands free from their captive state under the bandages. Sanji's bottom lip trembles slightly, he's not sure if this gesture of comfort is for him or for Zeff, but he won't protest.

“That boy of yours has been sat outside the room almost constantly since his doctors let him go. He's only not in here now because I sent him off for food. He's been waiting for you like some kind of dog.” Zeff says quietly. It's a safer topic, one not about their feelings. Not about Sanji's panic or Zeff's concern. 

“Don't t-talk about Zoro like that, he's n- he's n-not some pathetic... puppy.” Sanji argues with a scowl, his stupid speech slowing him down. He feels his jaw tightening with stress. Zeff ignores it and instead tugs on a cowlick of Sanji's hair at the back of his head, he can never get that bit to sit right and if his hair is any shorter it tends to stick straight up. 

“Tch, did I say he was? He's more akin to a guard dog. He hasn't let anyone in here but medical staff and me, and that was only after I kicked him in the shin, reminded him who's son you were and then threatened to break his other arm. He won't talk to anyone or let anyone near you, if I let him in here he just sits there looking at you. Honestly I'm glad you're awake, it was getting fucking creepy.” Zeff snorts. 

A small smile creeps onto Sanji's face and he ducks his head to hide it. He ought to feel bad for worrying Zoro but really he's pretty touched by his concern. His face heats a little and when he chances a quick glance up at Zeff there's an amused twitch to the old man's moustache. 

“I'll call the doc you had as a kid, if this goes away on it's own then we'll just cancel.” Zeff says, he doesn't say the rest. He doesn't define what will happen if this doesn't go away. 

“Hear that?” Sanji asks, tilting his head. He can hear it, that particular agitated thudding clomp of Zoro's boots drawing closer down the echoing hospital corridor. 

“Oi I got you- SANJI!” Zoro yelps, flinging the takeout bag of food to the side and all but throwing himself at Sanji. It's a good thing that Sanji had his legs crossed under the sheets because otherwise Zoro would have landed right on him. Zoro's good hand is on Sanji's face, just touching him and mapping him out, feeling every little cut and nick that Sanji didn't realise that he had. 

Sanji stares at Zoro's left arm, it's bent and in a sling with a cast going from his knuckles to his bicep. It's that strange blue coloured cast that indicates it's status as a temporary cast. Zoro's poor arm. 

“I've already got a Sanji. I wanted food damnit, you've spilt things.” Zeff grumbles as he moves to pick up the bag of food from the chair that Zoro threw it at. Not that Zoro is listening. 

“Are you ok? What did the doctor say? How is your head? Do you remember what happened? Does it hurt? Do-” Sanji cuts off Zoro's stream of questions with a kiss and the two of them relax in synch. They drift apart after a few moments, reluctance on both sides. Sanji opens his mouth to speak but he doesn't want Zoro to hear him, doesn't want him to hear the halting juddered speech. He uses his lower position on the bed to duck under Zoro's chin and gingerly wrap his arms around him. 

“I thought... I didn't know if you'd be okay. Whether you'd wake up or remember me or... or anything.” Zoro admits gently. He can feel Zoro relaxing and Sanji feels bad for lying by omission. 

“I'm n-n-not- fuck. Not o-kay.” Sanji forces out. Zoro pulls back from him and rests on his heels looking at Sanji with his head slightly cocked in curiosity. At that moment he does look a little like a curious guard dog. Sanji can see the gears whirring in Zoro's head. 

“The stutter, the one you had when you were a kid.” Zoro concludes after a second. Smart puppy. 

Zeff's back snaps straight and his head whips around so fast that Sanji thinks he may well have whiplash. His eyes are big and wide in a very obvious 'you told him about that?'. Zeff's right to be stunned, Sanji never ever talks about it. He always prefers to pretend that he never stuttered, even denying it to people who had heard him grow up doing it. 

Zoro, as ever, was the exception to that rule. Hell, for Zoro he'd helped write a fucking song about it. 

“Mm.” Sanji nods awkwardly to Zoro, avoiding his gaze. 

“Shit, that must suck.” Zoro says, settling down cross legged on the end of Sanji's bed. 

“Still, you beat it once, you can do it again. I know you.” Zoro says with blind confidence and a brilliant grin that melts Sanji's insides. 

“I- I don't...” Sanji mutters shaking his head. “Wh... what if I can't?”

“Well, it's kinda cute so...” Zoro grins with a flirtatious waggle of his eyebrows. 

“FUCK YOU!” Sanji shrieks and kicks at Zoro who collapses with laughter. 

“I NEED my voice t-t-t-t” Sanji grits a breath out between his teeth, he's getting stuck there, he needs to reroute that sentence. 

“Need my voice for singing.” He amends with a scowl. 

“Well I need my arm for playing so we're both pretty fucked for now, huh?” Zoro points out, lifting his arm in the cast. The mirth drains from the room, though Zoro doesn't seem annoyed at him. 

“Sorry.” Sanji says softly, touching the rough synthetic material of the cast. 

“Does it hurt?” He asks, trying not to touch the cast too roughly. 

“It aches like fuck but they've got me on some good painkillers after everything they did so I'm good.” Zoro shrugs simply.

“What did- did they do?” he asks, remembering the bone jabbing through the skin. 

“Surgery, three pins that I'll have for life. But it's pretty standard shit, if fucking awful to deal with. They have to check it out in a few weeks to check that it's all healing right but, yeah.” Zoro shrugs as if it's no problem. 

“Anyway, aside from this thing I don't look like I've been in a wreck. You on the other hand look like hell.” Zoro informs him. 

“What?” Sanji blinks in confusion, his hand coming up to his face. 

“Please, hold all the lovey-dovey compliments, I might vomit. I hadn't shown him his reflection yet, I figured one shitty reveal at a time, but go ahead Lassie.” Zeff snorts. Zoro frowns, clearly confused by that Lassie comment though Sanji shoots his old man a dirty look for the dog reference. As he does Zoro snaps a photo of him and turns the phone around to him so his own picture is showing. 

Sanji's jaw falls open in shock. The right side of his head are where the bandages are thickest, centring around a spot a few inches up and back from his right temple. Radiating out from that point is a whole spectrum of red and purple under his skin, circling his whole eyesocket and his cheekbone and even spreading across to the bridge of his nose. It looks like the worst black eye he's ever seen, and he's seen Zoro's. The bruise radiates down past his cheekbone and fades the lower it gets. In the worst areas of the bruise bits of it are turning purple as they go through the spectrum of healing. Marring his skin here and there are little shallow cuts, probably from the glass when Zoro's window exploded inwards, they don't trouble him as they'll heal easily enough. 

Zoro is right, he looks like he's been in a complete wreck. His hand brushes the bandages at their thickest point. It must have been where he hit his head, and that must have happened when his head hit the window. He's no idea how he stayed awake or got through the pain, he doesn't really remember feeling all that much, but at the time he was too focused on Zoro and keeping him ok. 

“Shit.” Sanji concludes succinctly. 

“Does it hurt?” Zoro asks gingerly, his fingers just brushing the bruised skin. Sanji winces, it's a little tender but mostly fine, it must have just been the shockwave through his skull at the impact. His flesh isn't happy by any means but there's no real damage there. 

Sanji shakes his head and reaches up, twining his fingers with Zoro's and holding the man's warm palm against his uninjured left cheek. Zoro's mouth opens, looking like he has something to say but he stops himself with a furtive glance at Zeff. Whatever he wants to say he doesn't want to say it in front of Sanji's old man. 

“I'm gonna go see that nurse about getting you released kiddo.” Zeff announces loudly and leaves the room in a rather obvious manner. Zoro and Sanji both relax a little. 

“I haven't told anyone anything, not our friends or Zeff. I've told the cops what I had to but mostly I told them I wouldn't do anything until you were awake again.” Zoro explains, his thumb ghosting over Sanji's unbruised cheekbone. Sanji considers this and pulls away from Zoro. He reaches up to his hairline and starts fussing with his fringe, most of it is free of the bandages so it's a relatively simple job to switch his hair over from covering his left side to covering his right. His hair prickles a little uncomfortably, unused as it is to being laid at a different angle like that. The feeling will pass though and in very little time the worst of Sanji's bruising is hidden. 

“Better?” He asks, avoiding Zoro's statement. 

“Nah, this side is just as curly too.” Zoro grins, his finger tracing the swirl of Sanji's eyebrow. 

“Fuck off.” Sanji says back without any venom and instead just a grin. 

“They're gonna want to know and I'm pretty sure I can't lie to cover this one up. Every answer I give will lead to more questions, it's probably all going to come out and I'm really not looking forward to it.” Zoro explains a little further. He looks torn and Sanji wonders if part of Zoro is looking forward to not having to lie anymore, it'd make sense. Still, an uneasy feeling bubbles in Sanji's gut, they're going to want to know why Sanji didn't tell anyone when he found out. He looks away and swallows thickly. 

“They won't be... be mad at y-you.” Sanji manages thickly. He on the other hand was another story. 

“Oh, they will be. They'll want to know why I didn't say anything, why didn't I trust them with it, why didn't I ask for help, blah, blah, blah.” Zoro grumbles and rests his chin in his palm with his elbow resting on his knee. Sanji's mouth twists, he doesn't think that they're unreasonable questions to ask, especially for those that love Zoro like they do. But... well, Zoro's a pretty private person and he had his reasons for doing what he did, Sanji has spent less time trying to work out why Zoro never said anything and more time focusing on getting him out of the shitty situation that he was in. He supposes that he managed that in the end, good job Sanji. He only nearly got them both killed in the process. 

“Do you wan... wanna t-tell... them?” He asks softly. 

“No.” Zoro snorts irritably. Sanji rolls his eyes and rephrases.

“You gonna?” He asks instead to the pedantic fuck. 

At this Zoro sighs and looks off to the side, his fingers fidgeting with Sanji's cheap standard hospital sheets. Zoro finds a loose thread and tugs on it, pulling the woven fabric undone a little at a time. 

“It's been a secret from everyone for so long... except from you. How am I gonna admit that I've been lying for so long?” Zoro mumbles quietly, his brow furrowed with worry. 

“They love you.” Sanji says, thanking god that his voice came out smooth and clean that time. He kneels up and leans over to Zoro, resting his hands on Zoro's knees as he kisses the other man's forehead softly. Right, a change of subject then, he doesn't want to push Zoro for answers when it's clear that the other man himself doesn't know the answers himself.

“Have the cops f-f-found-” Sanji struggles his throat closing up, he shakes his head and shuts his eyes. It's just stress, he's... well... he's kind of frightened of Baby. Not that he'd admit that out loud but she did just sort of try to kill them both so it's not too unreasonable. Still, the fear isn't helping him now. She's not here, it's just Zoro. He relaxes. To his pleasure Zoro isn't leaping in to try to fill in the gaps in the words that Sanji is stumbling over, that always pissed him off when people did it, it made him feel incompetent at best or worse like they were putting words in his mouth that he hadn't wanted to say. Zoro isn't doing that, he's just sitting there patiently waiting for Sanji to get there. 

“Have they found her?” He manages smoothly.

“No, they went to her house and didn't find her or her car, same for her hotel.” Zoro answers as if nothing was amiss with Sanji at all. He feels a flutter of love for this man go through his chest. How is he ever going to leave him if he doesn't get his singing voice back? Does he really need to? Perhaps he could just leave the band and let them get a new singer who can get through a fucking sentence without breaking it up into stuttered chunks. 

“So?” Sanji frowns. What's next, she can't get away with it can she? Surely not after something that dramatic and hard to deny. Right?

“They keep looking for her and her car.” Zoro shrugs and that seems to be the end of that conversation, as simple as that. 

Sanji has a million things that he wants to know but in fairness lots of them are questions about the future and other people's reactions that Zoro can't possibly know. Instead he just clambers out entirely from under his sheet and shuffles around so that he's got his back to Zoro. Carefully he leans back against the other man's chest, working hard to get himself between Zoro and his arm in the cast. Zoro tugs the sling off and lowers his arm cast up to his bicep down onto Sanji's chest. It's held at a permanent right angle but it works okay to sort of hug Sanji. He wraps Zoro's good arm around him and settles there, the warmth of Zoro's chest radiating through him. They can't do much but be there for each other, they can't give each other the answers they want, he can't fix Zoro's arm any more than Zoro can fix Sanji's speech. What both of them can do however is just be there with each other. 

“I don't- don't want to just go back to my old man's house. Wan-wanna stay with you.” Sanji says softly. 

“Well... you concussed people need to be watched 24/7 right? I'm sure I can manage the hardship of having to watch you every second. Tell me, do you always sleep naked?” Zoro purrs into Sanji's ear, his tone positively filthy. 

“You know I don't. I only do when some green haired bastard has fucked me senseless.” Sanji snorts. He hadn't slept naked the first night they shared a bed in the hotel, before they crossed that line of sex. 

“I'm sure that I can arrange that.” Zoro grins, his hand sliding up a t-shirt that Sanji hadn't been wearing last night, Zeff must have brought it for him. Sanji realises with a start that he just said that last sentence perfectly, he swallows slowly and wonders if he can pull the same miracle off twice. 

“Where did... this shirt come from?” Sanji says, his speech halting partway through the sentence but not stuttering as such. It's improvement, maybe.

“That's the response I get? Your old man brought it cause the cops took your clothes as evidence.” Zoro sighs and skirts his hand a little higher over Sanji's hipbone and up his sides, long digits of his uninjured hand tracing patterns on Sanji's skin. The blonde squirms in embarrassment, they're in a public place and one that Zeff's not to far away from. They could get caught! 

Somehow that makes it better. God he's got issues. He gasps and lets his head fall to the side, letting Zoro's hand wander. Zoro bites at the juncture of throat and shoulder and then laps at the skin with his tongue in a gentle apology. Sanji bites his lip and whines, louder than he'd intended. 

A loud cough behind them startles Sanji upright so quickly that the top of his head connects with the underside of Zoro's chin so hard that it makes Sanji's ears ring and Zoro's jaw clack shut. 

“Fuck!” Zoro yelps.

“FUUUUUCK.” Sanji hisses, clutching the top of his aching head as the world spins sharply. Zoro's hand touches his back, steadying him until Sanji's vision clears. 

“Don't fuck in a hospital bed, creeps. Someone's probably died in there.” Zeff berates them. Sanji leaps off of the bed like a cat off of the surface of a bath it's been thrown into. He's not going back in there for love nor money now.

“We weren't you crusty old pervert!” Sanji howls angrily. 

“Hey, your speech sounded fine just then.” Zoro points out helpfully, his expression actually a little hopeful.

“Tch, this is part of the reason he has such an anger problem, he can almost always get words in anger out just fine. Never has a problem with cursing either, go figure.” Zeff shrugs nonchalantly. 

“Fucking shitty bastard.” Sanji snarls and pretty much proves Zeff's point as he does it. Zoro grins at him like he's just found out something amazing, amusing and important about Sanji. It's not like he has or anything, it's just a stupid quirk of his stutter, nothing interesting. Jeez. 

“C-can we go?” Sanji mutters, jerking a thumb to the door. 

“Sure half-pint, got you all signed out, fuck that shitty doctor's advice. Now let's get you home.” his old man says, grabbing an overnight bag and throwing it at Sanji. He's already in his clean t-shirt but underneath he's just got boxers on, the same ones he was wearing that night no less, ick. He opens the back and rummages in for clothes but when he looks up neither of the men in the room seem to have any intention of leaving and so Sanji is forced to change in front of them, his skin flushing scarlet. Zoro does have the decency to look away though, if just because Zeff is eyeballing him something chronic. Leering at a guy in front of his dad isn't the smartest of ideas. 

Sanji slings the bag over his shoulder, usually he'd try to make Zoro carry it just because making Zoro do things was fun and satisfying, but considering the state of his arm Sanji would give the moss brain a rest. He chews on his lip as he follows Zeff out with Zoro on his heels. Zeff is taking him home but... well... he wants to be with Zoro. He doesn't want to leave the man to face their friends on his own. That's his selfless reason but really he just wants his boyfriend back. They've spent so much time touring and... well... being hit by cars, he just wants to be with him uninterrupted. 

They follow Zeff out to the car and it's only when they get to the car doors that Sanji manages to get his mouth working enough to speak. 

“I d-d-don't want to- to go to yours. C-can I... can I go with Zoro?” He stammers out, his face flushing with embarrassment. Some part of him still hates that Zoro has to hear him talk like this. 

Zeff looks around with a raised eyebrow and a twitch of his moustache. 

“Didn't I say I was taking you home? People love you there, of course that's home.” the old man says and Sanji's heart soars. 

“The Baratie will... will always be h-home too.” Sanji adds quickly. 

“Course. Get your dumb ass in the car shitty skinny shrimp.” his old man snorts and herds Sanji inside. Zoro follows without complaint but with the kind of grin that suggests that Sanji will regret letting Zoro be privy to the familial teasing that he's currently witnessing. 

Sanji does up Zoro's seatbelt in the back of the car before doing his own up. When Zeff turns on the engine though Sanji's nervous system kicks him in the ass and sends a flood of adrenaline through his system. The last time he felt a car engine turn on he was very nearly killed. Sanji settles in and the feeling passes. It's strange, being in the back of the car like this with Zeff driving almost makes him feel like a little kid again. He's not ridden in the back of Zeff's car since his mother was still with them. He wants to reach his hand across the seat and hold Zoro's, but the arm closest to him is in the cast and so he can't really. Instead Sanji just leaves his hands awkwardly in his lap and watches the scenery as they go by in the car.

As they draw up in the car to the mansion Sanji feels tense. Still, when they stop he gets out of the car at his side and rushes over to undo the door for Zoro only to find that Zoro's got out by himself just fine, he blushes awkwardly and Zoro flashes him a smug grin. 

“Alright,” Zeff says flatly, rounding the car and leaning on the side that they're on. He fixes Zoro with a stiff look. 

“Zoro, look after my boy or I'll break your other arm and your legs, got it? Don't leave him alone and send him right back to the doctors if he starts acting weird. Weirder than usual I mean.” Zeff amends, casting a skeptical look at Sanji.

“Oi!” Sanji protests indignantly. He wasn't some fucking pet that Zeff was handing over to Zoro goddamnit.

“Don't you oi me, if you need anything you call me, little brat.” Zeff orders, jabbing Sanji in the shoulder.

“Alright old man, keep your hair on.” Sanji mumbles uncomfortably. This level of affection is unusual for them. Actually, come to think of it he doesn't like the devious grin on Zeff's face. In a flash the old man scoops Sanji up off of the floor and squeezes him into a tight hug and plants the sloppiest of kisses on Sanji's cheek, his long moustache scratching at his skin.

“Be safe my little eggplant!” Zeff coos mockingly.

“OH DEAR GOD PUT ME DOWN YOU SENILE EMBARRASSMENT TO THE HUMAN RACE!” Sanji squawks, squirming like a wildcat to get free.

“Oh am I embarrassing you pumpkin, and in front of your boyfriend too?” Zeff guffaws, swinging Sanji around and revelling in the paternal shame that he's inflicting on Sanji. 

“I HATE YOU!” Sanji howls. 

Finally Zeff is laughing too hard to hold Sanji up and so he drops him unceremoniously. Sanji scuttles to safety behind Zoro who is also doubled up with laughter. 

“I hate you both! I'm moving and ch-ch-changing my name and never... speaking to any of you again.” Sanji hisses, grabbing his bag through the open car window and storming off inside to the joint laughter of Zoro and his father. God forbid Sanji actually stay with Zoro. If he does Zoro and his father-in-law will be insufferable together and where the FUCK did that thought just come from?! It... it must be the head trauma, yes. 

The horrifying conclusions of head trauma don't get any less terrible for Sanji as he makes his way inside and is immediately pounced upon by their friends, all at once in a far too concerned mess complete with pointy elbows and shoving. Apparently being unconscious in hospital for several hours and having to have surgery is rather dramatic and makes the others want to fuss all over him. 

“Holy shit bro,” Franky remarks, pushing Sanji's hair aside slightly to look at his spreading bruises.

“That's not a black eye that's like... black face.” Franky exclaims loudly. 

There's a silence and Sanji gets a front row seat to Franky's face doing the whole 'wait that sounded wrong, oh shit' show. The blue haired idiot flicks a startled look over at Usopp who promptly collapses in a fit of mocking laughter. 

“You know what I mean!” Franky protests. 

“The skull acts as a crumple zone like that, face bones are meant to have a little give in them. Still the result is hardly pleasant, does it hurt Sanji?” Robin asks him clinically. 

“Nah.” Sanji reassures her and Robin relaxes slightly, was she worried about him? He's touched and a little fluttery in the chest. He keeps his words short so he has less chance of fucking them up. 

Zeff and Zoro come into the house and take some of the attention off of Sanji. He can't help but notice the way that Zoro gets a full round of pity looks from everyone in regards to temporarily being a one armed guitarist. Sanji is most certainly not looking forward to the others rumbling him about his shittily ironic condition. Hey, between him and Zoro they can make up a pointless duet, the one armed guitarist and the singer who can't, come one come all. 

After that the collective gaze moves to Zeff, most of them know who he is from Sanji's accidental audition and subsequent eviction, but it's still a little strange to have him here. Still, they evidently respect his parental rights to meddle in Sanji's health that no one says anything. 

“I'm going to go cook food, which room's the kitchen?” Zeff says, evidently making himself completely at home and also winning Luffy's undying love. 

“One with the f-f-fridge.” Sanji says, his words catching in his throat. He sharply curtails the end of that sentence and thanks the gods that it doesn't sound to grammatically weird to do so, he'd intended on ribbing his old man more but that will suffice. Zeff shoots him a long suffering look a walks off in what turns out to be the right direction. 

Sanji wishes his fringe was back on it's usual side because that way he could look through it and observe Nami and Robin without them realising, now it's on the other side he's just got Zoro lingering in the distance and he doesn't need to surreptitiously view him. Still he chances a look at them both and they're watching him with laser guided precision. Shit, they know something is up. 

“Sanji, are you ok? Were there any... consequences of the head injury besides being down for the count for a while? That and having to get surgery of course.” Nami asks, couching her question in as neutral kind of language as she can.

Sanji looks over his shoulder to Zoro for help but Zoro's expression, whilst trained solely on Sanji, is entirely neutral. Sanji gets it. If he wants to lie and say that he's fine then Zoro will go along with it. He supposes the guitarist owes him more than a few lies. But there's no point in trying to deceive their friends, if he could keep this fucking stutter under wraps enough that they wouldn't guess then there wouldn't be a goddamn problem in the first place would there? He has to fess up. He wets his lips to talk and already feels his throat closing in on him and the anxiety pouring into his system. He knows that he shouldn't do this, anticipating that he won't be able to speak properly is a huge factor in getting himself so tongue tied that he can't. He's had years of speech therapy and practice to know this but the reflex and the fear is still there, how long had this been lurking below the surface of his mind, hidden only by Sanji's self confidence in his ability to sing?

“I-I-I... There's b-been a prob-prob- argh, fuck. A fuck up with my s-speech.” He forces out, great, stammering, pauses and having to reroute his sentence to avoid a word, the holy trinity of speech problems. Fucking wonderful. 

“From the head injury?” Nami asks, eyes wide with shock and concern. Her hand reaches out for Sanji's bandaged head but halts, clearly wary of hurting him. Sanji shrugs in lieu of a real answer.

“Oh man, pity this happened to you and not Scratchman, singing like that'd suit him d-d-down to the ground!” Franky guffaws loudly. 

Sanji flinches, fucking ow Franky. 

Robin backhands Franky in the arm hard enough to leave a red handprint there and from the ominous presence behind him Sanji would guess that Zoro is none to pleased with that barb either. He looks back at Zoro and sure enough the guitarist has his best murder face on, eyes narrowed, teeth bared in a snarl, the works. 

“What? It was funny!” Franky protests loudly, rubbing his arm. 

“Guess again.” Zoro snarls, low and dangerous. 

Robin turns to face Franky head on, her eyes are dangerous and dark. 

“Apologise.” She orders, her voice like silk and steel.

“What? The guy's old enough to take a j-j-joke!” Franky protests. 

Sanji doesn't see Robin move but he hears the high dog like yip that escapes him and sees the way that he buckles over until his head hits Robin's shoulder. Robin's arm it outstretched and it takes Sanji a moment to parse that Robin has Franky quite literally by the nuts. 

“EEE! ROBIN LET ME GO!!!” Franky squeals trying to get free without dismembering his man parts.

“I'm sorry, did you misunderstand me?” Robin says her voice light and airy. From the howl that Franky makes he guesses her grip tightens. 

“OWWWW! I'M SORRY OKAY!!!!” Franky yells, his spine arching in pain as Robin crushes his nuts. Sanji tries to dredge up some fellow man sympathy but oh hey, would you look at that, it's all out. Too bad. So sad. 

“I didn't quite hear you there. What was it you're sorry for?” Robin asks daintily.

“I'M SORRY FOR HAVING A GODDAMN SENSE OF HUMOUR I- AAAAGH FUCK! OKAY OKAY!” Franky yelps and looks Sanji in the eye with difficulty. 

“I'M SORRY FOR MAKING FUN OF YOU, I DIDN'T MEAN IT- oh thank god.” Franky whimpers as Robin lets him go and casually smiles at all of them. 

“Uh, it's o-okay Franky.” Sanji manages. Shit, he needs to remember to never piss of Robin. 

“Can you sing like that?” Nami asks him, cutting straight to the nitty gritty of the whole affair now that Franky has been dealt with. 

Sanji hesitates, he doubts it but singing is what helped him beat this before, so... maybe. He shrugs a little helplessly and Nami's mouth quirks unhappily. 

“Let's go sit down, I think it would be better than just standing around in the hallway like this.” Robin suggests in what is probably actually an order.

The others all follow Robin, Sanji does too after throwing his bag along the floor so it skids to a stop at the foot of the stairs. Sanji and Zoro come into the room near the end and they're long past the door when they realise what they're walking into. The two person love seat has been pulled in from the library and is sitting before the TV, the other chairs and sofas are sat up around it and some of their friends are already in their places, even Kaya is here. It's a fucking intervention. Zoro and Sanji start backing up, so full of 'not going to happen' for this situation that they're perfectly in sync. However Nami is behind them and her surprisingly strong dainty hands dig into their shoulders and steer them towards the double chair with a threat of pointy nails for noncompliance. She forces them down into the chair with a soft thump and then sits in her own armchair, curling her legs under herself like a cat. 

“So...?” Zoro says into the quiet room after a little while of everyone there just staring at the two of them like creeps. Except the ladies, their concern is touching and not at all creepy, they're such lovely angels. 

“Tell us what happened, Sanji's here now so you can't say later any more.” Luffy orders sternly, his eyes boring into Zoro. 

“Our car was hit.” Zoro says. Four words, that's all he uses to describe the fuckery that could have killed them both. 

“Yeah but you didn't tell us that it was Baby who drove into you.” Nami points out. Sanji jolts in surprise, he thought that Zoro hadn't told her that!

“But thanks Sanji for confirming.” Nami adds with a cute little smile. That... evil little minx. She's lucky she's cute. Zoro groans next to him as if he's embarrassed that Sanji could fall for something so apparently obvious. 

“Sorry.” Sanji mumbles under his breath to Zoro but the guitarist just shrugs, he'd figured already that things were going to come out sooner or later and he seems prepared for it and more importantly he doesn't seem angry at Sanji. 

“See, I thought that might be it. We overheard the police discussing it and I can't help but think that this sort of behaviour is crazy even for her, I mean it, I think she may be genuinely mentally ill. Of course I'm not that kind of doctor and not an expert in the mind but... well... I'd refer her to someone who was if I was her doctor.” Kaya notes with some concern. 

“So she really tried to drive her car into you both?” Chopper gasps with a horrified expression.

“She didn't try, she did it.” Zoro answers unhappily. 

“She will pay.” Robin says dangerously and Nami and Kaya nod in equal feminine menace. Sanji alters his previous mental note to never upset any of them.

“Why would she though? I don't get it, the two of you broke up ages ago. Why wait this long to do something like this? Why not right after the two of you broke up?” Brook hums thoughtfully and Sanji doesn't like this avenue of thought. 

“Well Sanji is the thing that's changed in that mix.” Usopp says, his lips drawn into a tense line. 

“I suppose it could be jealousy at seeing Zoro move on.” Franky says, his voice still sounding a little high from Robin's ruthless treatment of his balls. 

Luffy is watching this entire conversation with keen eyes and suddenly Sanji doesn't like the creepy intuition that Luffy showed before when he rounded on Sanji with that butter knife and accused him of upsetting Zoro or hurting him. Right now that gaze and this conversation is getting way too close to the truth and Sanji feels too guilty for that. 

“Zoro, when did you and Baby break up?” Luffy asks, dead seriously, his eyes trained on Zoro.

“Turn your brain on Luffy it was ages-” Nami starts with a huff, as if she's irritated with their stupid frontman. 

“I asked Zoro.” Luffy cuts her off without once breaking his steely gaze on Zoro. Sanji doesn't dare move, doesn't dare breathe and Zoro stays in silence for a second or two. 

“Uh. It's hard to be specific but... for sure last night.” Zoro says, actually breaking and dropping his gaze from Luffy. 

The room is silent for all of five stunned seconds. Sanji can see it coming and stuffs his fingers in his ears, no sense damaging his other senses too.

“WHAT?!” the rest of the room all screams in unison. Even Robin is horrified and outraged. 

“How could you-” 

“some big secret-”

“-never told us!”

“-are your friends!” 

Sanji can't even make out who is yelling what. Luffy raises a hand and after a few moments everyone stops, looking from the pair of them to Luffy and back again. 

“Why?” Luffy asks in a serious voice that, if Sanji's not mistaken, has a little bit of hurt in it.

“I don't know what you-” Zoro starts in an attempt to derail the conversation but Luffy's having none of it. 

“Why.” Luffy repeats sternly. 

Zoro shifts like an uncomfortable kid caught doing something he shouldn't have. 

“I went back to her after she broke up with me because I was sad and I thought I needed her and I stayed with her because... she didn't give me much choice. I didn't want to say because I knew you'd all freak out and then I... didn't have any other choice.” Zoro says, skirting around the whole issue. 

“And you, you knew.” Luffy accuses, his gaze turning to Sanji and, hey, that look is much worse when it's focused on him. 

“I... yeah.” Sanji admits meekly. 

“I made him swear not to tell, threatened him even.” Zoro leaps in to explain. 

“It was s-still my choice.” Sanji amends, shaking his head softly. He's not going to let Zoro throw himself under the bus like some martyr here, they both need to own their decisions. 

“Well shit, no wonder she flew off of the handle then. Not that it's ok or justifiable but... it explains it a little.” Franky amends, shooting a wary look at Robin as if he's aware that one wrong word could lead to his nuts being removed from his body via Robin's steely grip. 

“Shit Zoro, you should have said something. Why didn't you tell me at least? I'm your best friend, aren't I?” Usopp asks sounding and looking actually hurt, his big brown eyes turned on Zoro. Kaya reaches across and squeezes Usopp's hand reassuringly and Zoro winces next to Sanji enough for him to feel it. 

“It was complicated.” the guitarist mutters and even to Sanji's ears that's going to sound weak as an excuse and so of course someone is going to press him on it.

“Complicated how? I'm sure we can manage to wrap our heads around it.” Robin points out, her tone indicating just how displeased she is that Zoro is apparently assuming them all too stupid to understand. But it's not that at all. Zoro knew that the situation he was in was messed up, if he hadn't he wouldn't have known to lie about it. He knew that he couldn't tell them because they'd tell him that he was wrong and try to save him, just as Sanji had. Sanji has no idea if Zoro was too scared to ask for help or if some part of him genuinely believes that he could handle the situation with Baby and fix it. Sanji thinks it's more likely to be the latter, Zoro isn't one to give up easily and Baby had him pretty much believing that everything was his fault. He wasn't thinking straight and she blocked every chance that Zoro had to get an outside perspective by either bribing him, distracting him or threatening him. What chance did Zoro stand against that. 

“I don't want to talk about it, it's in the past now. Just leave it.” Zoro says dismissively and from the looks on their bandmates faces absolutely none of them are going to do that at all. 

“But-” Usopp starts to protest.

“No.” Zoro responds, stern and unyielding. 

“When you said to me that Zoro wasn't over her, you knew about this and you still know more than you're saying.” Luffy says, changing tactic again and returning to Sanji. Zoro looks at Sanji sharply. 

“He at-attacked me with a kn-knife cause he thought I was-” Sanji yelps indignantly. Zoro realises just what Sanji is saying and lets out a short ironic bark of laughter, obviously thinking the same thing that Sanji had. Luffy had been so close to the right answer and yet managed to completely miss it. Of Zoro's partners at the time he'd accused the one who would never hurt Zoro instead of the one that always did. 

“Really? You thought that Sanji was hurting Zoro? As if, he's whipped.” Usopp says with a laugh as he raises a skeptical eyebrow at Luffy. 

“Oi!” Sanji protests indignantly. He's not whipped, he's just not an asshole. 

Okay, he can be an asshole but not to THAT level. Fuck no.

“Someone was.” Luffy says flatly, draining all mirth out of the room. 

Sanji is pressed against Zoro, from hip to knee and he can feel the way that Zoro tenses. Does Zoro want the truth out after all this time even if it'll hurt? Does he want this? Zoro holds his breath and doesn't say anything at all and Luffy's expression darkens.

“Where did you get that cut on your eye again?” Luffy asks, his dark gaze steady on Zoro. Zoro seems trapped by his gaze and says nothing at all, it's like he can't even speak. 

“He cut it trying to play a guitar with his teeth remember? Zoro told us that!” Usopp says into the silence filling the room, like he needs to fill it with an answer because Zoro just isn't speaking. The others are starting to get looks of dawning suspicion on their faces and are looking at Zoro with wide eyes. 

“Usopp, I know what he said. I asked Zoro how he got it, not you. Zoro, tell me.” Luffy says curtly, not even breaking eye contact with Zoro. 

“I... I...” Zoro chokes out, his voice barely above a whisper. Sanji feels an ache of sympathy for him and gently reaches out and touches the top of his hand to offer some solace. 

“Or should I assume that you got them in the same place as all of those black eyes and cuts from those bar fights and bike accidents?” Luffy asks, his eyes narrowing. 

“Oh Zoro...” Robin breathes, her hand going to her mouth to cover further words.

“Baby? Baby did all of that to you? Whilst you were dating her?!” Nami yelps, jolting up in the arm chair and staring wide eyed at Zoro in shock. 

“No way, Zoro told us what happened...” Usopp says, though his voice is wavering and shaky as his eyes flit between Zoro and Luffy. 

“I didn't know what to do.” Zoro says oh so quietly. Sanji squeezes his hand tightly and Zoro squeezes back a little. 

“I'm going to go hunt her down and kick her ass.” Luffy declares getting up with a snarl and clenched fists. He takes two steps towards the door before Robin's hand snags his arm. 

“If the police can't find her then what makes you think you can? We need to get vengeance here but just storming out and hoping to run into her isn't a smart way to do it and we don't need you ending up in prison. She'll pay for this, just sit down.” Robin says reasonably. Sanji's heart tightens, he doesn't want their friends getting caught up in this. He tried to help Zoro and nearly got killed for his trouble, who knows what lengths everyone knowing will push her to?

Luffy breathes out a tense breath through his nose and then returns to his seat in the middle of the sofa with a scowl, he was all set for rushing out to kick her ass without any forethought. 

“You don't exactly seem shocked Sanji.” Nami points out after a moment. Sanji jolts at being addressed and looks up at his red haired goddess. 

“I... yeah. I knew.” Sanji admits weakly as a rush of guilt prickles hotly up the back of his neck. Did he make the right choice in keeping quiet and trying to reach Zoro through slow reason? Zoro's not the kind of man that you can just force into something and he'll easily damage himself out of spite, it just wouldn't have helped. Or that's what Sanji has to tell himself at any rate. 

“You KNEW?!” Usopp yells, suddenly leaping to his feet. 

Sanji startles and looks at the usually gentle and goofy keyboard player, but there's no trace of that man there now. Now he just looks fuming and deadly. His whole body is shaking with anger and he's looking at Sanji with such loathing that it startles Sanji almost out of his seat. 

“Usopp...” Kaya interjects softly, her hand on his arm. He shakes her off though and crosses the distance to Sanji in two short strides. He grabs for Sanji's shirt collar but he quickly leaps up out of the way and darts out of his reach. Usopp is livid.

“You knew that she was... was torturing him and you just thought you'd keep it to yourself?! You could have stopped it and you just decided to keep your mouth shut! Why would you do that? Or was that what brought the two of you together? You knew Zoro's secret and he had to date you to keep you quiet, is that it?” Usopp hisses like an angry cat. Sanji can only stand there wide eyed and open mouthed. He's never seen this side to Usopp before. Usually the long nosed guy is lighthearted but apparently when something he cares about is threatened like that he becomes a frightening thing of war. 

“N-no that... it- it wasn't-” Sanji stammers over his words, his brain choosing now of all times to fuck him over, just now when he needs to communicate clearly he suddenly can't.

“I oughta put you back in the hospital!” Usopp snaps, raising his fist and preparing to strike Sanji in the face. 

Zoro shoves Usopp off to the side, saving Sanji. 

“N-no!” Sanji squeaks, he doesn't want the two of them fighting each other, but apparently no one is listening to him. The others are all watching in shock or in interest as the two best friends scream at each other. 

“Don't you dare touch him!” Zoro roars, a picture of fury. 

“I'm supposed to be your best friend and he was the only person who knew?! If you'd told me then I could have helped you! Why didn't you say something?!” Usopp shouts desperately, his eyes pleading with Zoro. 

“I didn't tell him, he found out. He followed me to hers one day and saw what she... he saw. And it's not the kind of thing that I can just spit out like that!” the guitarist argues and drags his one good hand through his hair in a tense gesture. 

“Sure it is! 'Hey Usopp, my psycho ex who's not actually my ex is trying to kill me!' see, it's that easy!” Usopp shouts.

“Usopp, that's not fair.” Chopper pipes up, his big watery eyes overflowing with emotional tears. 

“Shut up.” Usopp barks, glancing back at the young boy.

“Hey!” Sanji protests, Chopper might be smart for his age but he's still just a kid. 

“Don't you start!” Usopp snaps, shoving a finger in Sanji's face. 

“If you'd said something when you should have then Zoro wouldn't have a broken arm or that big scar on his face for life and god knows how many other injuries. You're just as responsible for this as Baby is!” the keyboard player hisses venomously and Sanji's heart seizes up, it's as if Usopp had ripped Sanji's own guilty fears right out of his heart and hung them up for all to see.

“I didn't give him a choice! I threatened him to keep quiet, I didn't want him telling anyone.” Zoro says in Sanji's defence. 

“And of course you listened. No matter what Zoro would have done to you it wouldn't have been worse than what she must have done to him, Zoro's not a monster! But no, you thought it was better for you to be safe even if it meant he was worse off! I should never have trusted you around him, not after what happened the first time the two of you met. Zoro was right to try to punch your head off then and I should have let him!” Usopp shouts at the top of his lungs. 

“It wasn't just that! I never would have trusted him again, we'd never have been able to play together, you know that! He knew that too, I would have got him kicked out!” the guitarist yells.

Shit, Usopp is right, he's a coward. He's scum. He should have stopped being so selfish and thought of Zoro's wellbeing more. Even if telling would have hurt Zoro in the short term and wrecked their relationship forever he should still have done it. 

“I'd rather lose him than have this happen to you! He's replaceable, you're not!” Usopp yells almost hysterically. 

“SAY THAT AGAIN!” Zoro challenges, his free fist snagging in the front of Usopp's overalls and hauling him close. How he plans on holding Usopp and punching him when he's only got the one arm available is anyone's guess though.

“Enough. Sanji is one of us and he made the call he thought was right, you don't know what you would have done in his place so you don't get to say. No one enters or leaves this band unless I say so, I wouldn't have let you get rid of Sanji. He's the best singer we've ever had and he's made Zoro a much better musician... and a better person too.” Luffy interjects, shoving the two men apart. 

“Kaya.” Luffy says simply, flicking a look to Usopp's wife. She rises to her feet and reaches for Usopp to pull him away, to make him calm down. The keyboardist is having none of it though and shakes her off, storming furiously out of the building without another word or a backwards look. 

“Usopp, wait!” Kaya calls after him, but he's gone. 

“He... he doesn't mean it. He's just scared and upset.” She says, looking back at them with her wide blue eyes. 

“We shouldn't be blaming each other here, this is no one's fault but Baby's. Now what are we going to do about it?” Robin says smoothly, looking at all of them expectantly. 

“She needs to pay. Zoro... did either of you tell the police about this? About what she did?” Franky asks gently, his voice soft and his eyes worried, as if he's afraid that Zoro will break. Part of Sanji comes back to life, wanting to bat that look away. Zoro doesn't need to be coddled here, he's not weak and treating him like it won't end well. Predictably Zoro tenses all over and his face pulls into a scowl. Franky is lucky that's all he's done. 

“I told them that it was her car but nothing else, no one would believe me.” Zoro grits out, clearly not happy admitting that out loud. 

“But you have to try! The police are supposed to prosecute things like this!” Chopper pipes up innocently. 

“The justice system is fucked. The cops don't think women can do any harm, not against a guy who looks like Zoro. They're idiots for thinking it but it's how they work. I've got into plenty of fights with assholes who tried it on with me and I could always convince the police that I was innocent just by turning on the waterworks, they're idiots. Zoro's right, they won't buy it. Unless you've got any concrete proof?” Nami adds, her gaze turning to Zoro. 

“I- I saw her.” Sanji manages. 

“Yeah, Zoro's current boyfriend testifying against his ex girlfriend, that'll look real impartial.” Nami snorts irritably. 

“If we'd have known then we could have set up some kind of trap for her to get evidence or...” she sighs, running a hand through her tangerine coloured hair in irritation.

“And made it so I never trusted him or you again, this isn't Sanji's fault.” Zoro snaps. He apparently feels that there's greater grounds for defending Sanji than Sanji himself does. 

“But... then she would ha-have paid for...” Sanji mumbles guiltily. 

“NO.” Zoro says, loud and stern as he fixes Sanji with a no nonsense stare. 

“I'm not saying it's Sanji's fault at all. I just wish there was more that we could do here.” Nami says, holding her hands up in a passive gesture. 

“Maybe we all need to be a little more rational and practical here, and calm down too perhaps? We're all angry and upset but there's nothing that we can do to change the past is there?” Brook points out, his voice soft and calming and for once showing himself as being older and wiser than the rest of them. 

“Even if she won't be punished for everything that she's done to Zoro, and it's up to Zoro just how much of his past with her that he shares with us and if he doesn't want to then it's none of our buisness.” Brook adds, glancing at Zoro. Zoro seems to relax a mite and nods at Brook.

“Even then, surely the police have her on double attempted homicide right? That ought to get her a more than lengthy jail sentence.” Brook reasons, looking to them all for agreement. 

“I hope so but you never know with her, she can worm her way out of anything.” Zoro sighs. All of the anger seems to go out of him and he just looks tired. He sits back down on the seat that they'd both been sat down on. Sanji remembers that his old man said that Zoro had been waiting outside for him to wake up ever since they both got out of surgery.

“We'll make sure she pays for this.” Luffy says with an air of certainty that Sanji wishes he felt. Sanji drops down into the seat next to Zoro and rests his head on Zoro's shoulder, he manages to get an uninjured bit to rest on him. The last thing he needs to do is to fuck up the previously dented portion of his skull. Sanji wonders what they had to do to fix it. Did they just put him back together like a jigsaw or is he missing bits of skull now? He should probably ask his old man. Oh shit, Zeff is here isn't he? He probably heard all of that yelling. 

“Gotta...” He mutters and gets to his feet, striding out of the room before anyone can stop him. There's only one door between the living room and the kitchen and it's open. Zeff is in there with ingredients spread over the counter and something that smells like bruschetta in the oven. His old man straightens up and looks at him, wiping his large hands on a dish towel. Sanji leans against the door, shutting it after him and effectively shutting the kitchen off from the rest of the house. 

“You heard.” Sanji says, it's not a question.

“Hard not to.” Zeff shrugs, leaning on the counter top and looking at Sanji. 

Sanji shakes, between the fear he feels now and the stutter coming back... he feels like a little kid again. He's not done this since he was a kid either but he's in physical pain and his world is turning upside down so maybe just once he can act like a kid again. He crosses the space to Zeff and gets in close to him, pressing his face into Zeff's shoulder and trying to hold in a sob, it comes out in a whine instead and Sanji fists his hands in Zeff's white shirt front. Big strong fatherly arms come around him and Sanji could be seven again instead of the man that he is. 

“Sorry.” He says into Zeff's clothes.

“For?” Zeff prompts him, patting on his back. 

“Not telling you.” he says. If he'd gone to ask Zeff for help instead of trying to fix everything by himself then maybe the old man would have been able to help him. He'd nearly gone to Iva for help, but that was more about whether he should date Zoro than about the unfixable problem of Zoro being Baby's punching bag. 

“If you'd have told me a secret like that I'd have been inclined to slap you upside the head for doing so. A man shares something that secret with you it ought to remain a secret. Besides, I'm not sure I'd have been able to tell you anything that you hadn't already thought about. You did your best in a shitty situation string bean.” Zeff assures him into the top of Sanji's head through the swathe of bandages. 

“I feel like I fucked up though.” He admits out loud for the first time.

“There's not really a right thing to do in shitty situations like that kid. Just a least wrong one. For what it's worth I think you made the best of a shitty time.” Zeff mutters, letting Sanji go. Apparently that's enough parental physical affection for this year, they've exceeded their quota, they can both go home. The thought tugs a weak smile to the edge of Sanji's lips. 

“Gonna say the same thing myself.” A voice says from the door. Sanji jumps like a scalded cat and whips around to see Zoro suddenly inside the kitchen. How long has he been there and how did Sanji not hear him come in? His face reddens when he realises just what Zoro said. 

“So... Usopp's kind of a jerk sometimes when it comes to me, you didn't deserve that and I'm gonna kick his ass for-” Zoro starts with a scowl.

“D-don't. I don't want to- to fuck things up more with you two.” Sanji insists, shaking his head. He feels responsible for so much of this. 

“Listen to me dumb grass head, my kid clearly loves you-” Zeff starts, jabbing a finger in Zoro's direction.

“HEY! Shut your fucking FACE old man! Oh my god!” Sanji yelps in mortified horror. It's not that it's not true but, shit, he doesn't need his old man saying that kind of shit! 

“Was I talking to you? No. Shut it.” Zeff barks, glowering at Sanji before returning his gaze to Zoro.

“My kid loves you but he's been through some shit for you. Not your fault but if you were just with him to get out of that shit-show that your girl put you through before or if you think you can't deal with being with someone, not that I'd blame you for that, then you'd better split with him now. It'll only hurt worse later if you realise that then instead of now. So if you're gonna do that, do it now.” Zeff says firmly. Zoro looks surprised though nowhere near as shocked and simultaneously mortified as Sanji feels. How can his old man say shit like this? He's pretty much asking Zoro to break up with him right now! 

“The FUCK are you doing?!” Sanji yells at his old man, the angry words coming out just fine. 

“Oh, it seems I've forgotten something in the car, excuse me.” Zeff says innocently as if Sanji hadn't just yelled a demand at him. Zeff walks casually out of the room and shuts the door behind him, leaving the two stunned teenagers behind in the room alone. 

“Is he always like that?” Zoro asks with wide stunned eyes, looking from Sanji to the door and back a few times, even though Zeff isn't there anymore. Sanji fists his hands in his hair in frustration and immediately regrets it as his scalp and his skull throb painfully and he feels a tug on what may be stitches under the bandages. He can't even put into words what Zeff is usually like and the stress of what he's just demanded of Zoro is clogging up his throat.

He gets it now. Zoro was damaged enough by Baby that it makes sense that he'd try to get out any way he could, even if that way out involved climbing on Sanji. It's not to say that's what he's done, deliberately or otherwise but Zeff is demanding that if that's what happened then he leave Sanji before he gets too attached to Zoro. A sensible if heartbreaking proposition. The mere idea that Zoro would or might have done that to him renders Sanji entirely mute and his fear and frustration build with no vent to release them until Sanji finally snaps and turns right around and kicks the refrigerator hard enough to dent it.

He supposes that Zoro must have gasped or something, but Sanji doesn't hear it. He sees the startled look on Zoro's face but worst of all is the ribbon of fear that trails over his expression for just a second or so before Zoro's walls slam down, hiding it from view. It's the same look that Sanji saw on Zoro's face whenever he was talking to Baby and trying to be reasonable with her despite her being totally crazy. He did that just then. What... did he do though? Shit, right, he lashed out at something when he was angry, took his rage out on the fridge. He supposes Baby might have started like that before she changed to turning her anger around onto Zoro instead. Crap, he doesn't need to drag the ghost of Zoro's relationship with Baby in between them now. Not when Zeff has just asked Zoro to decide if he's sure about this thing between them. 

Sanji opens his mouth but nothing except for stuttered syllables and garbled noise come out, so much so that even he can't understand what he's trying to say. With a frustrated hiss Sanji gives up and crosses the distance between him and Zoro, hoping that the guitarist will understand he means no harm. He pulls Zoro in at the waist and though he's stiff for a second he soon comes willingly and Sanji buries himself against the warmth of Zoro's form. It's hard with his big bulky cast in the way though and the last thing Sanji wants to do is to hurt Zoro more, so it ends up being a kind of half embrace.

There without Zoro's eyes boring holes into him Sanji is able to talk. 

“Sorry. I- I feel li-like a stupid fucking kid 'n now I'm acting li-ike one.” Sanji berates himself into Zoro's shirt. He's careful not to brush up against Zoro's cast but he wants to be as close to Zoro as possible, the conflicting urges there do nothing to help his state of mind. 

“It's just so... so frustrating.” Sanji hisses irritably and instantly berates himself for it. 

“I'll bet.” Zoro says, his voice calm as he strokes a hand through the little of Sanji's hair which isn't tangled in bandages. 

“You know I'm not changing my mind right? About us I mean.” Zoro clarifies and Sanji pulls away and watches him with wide eyes. Zoro looks a little grumpy but, well, when doesn't he? There's no deception on his face though, none at all. There's no uncertainty or anything else either that suggests that Zoro could end up changing his mind from anything he knows now. Obviously it doesn't mean that Zoro will forever want to be with him does it? After all, this isn't a goddamn marriage proposal or some shit like that is it? But it's a pretty good close up, it's Zoro saying that at least for now he can't see any reason for them not to be together and that he doesn't plan on changing his mind any time soon either. That's good enough for Sanji, so he smiles, wide and bright. 

Sanji's mouth opens a little, his first instinct is to question him about that, to probe if he really means it, but he doesn't want to tempt fate or make Zoro feel like he doesn't trust him at all. So instead he just lets his jaw shut again and pulls back close into Zoro's body again.

“Love you.” he mumbles quietly. He feels Zoro smile against his skin and thinks that at least for now things are fine. 

 

Usopp doesn't come back that night, at least not as long as Sanji stays up. He stays up and about until he persuades his old man to leave the house and go back to his own home and leave them be. Zoro promises to keep a close eye on Sanji, even going so far as to say that he'll stay with Sanji all night. Sanji's old man seems to be somewhere between approving of Zoro's audacity in being so blunt with him and in likely getting laid and the obligatory parental disapproval of anyone having sex with his kid. Sanji has no sympathy at all. 

He becomes a little more forgiving when it turns out that Zoro really means it. They stand in their shared bathroom together brushing their teeth in silence, it's a rare moment of domesticity broken only by soft cursing from Zoro as he tries to coordinate brushing his teeth with his non dominant hand. After that though Sanji leaves to go to his own room and it's only when he climbs into bed that he realises that Zoro is following him.

The edge of the bed dips with Zoro's weight on it and the marimo brazenly slides in under the covers as if it's the most natural thing in the world to be doing. 

“I said I'd keep an eye on you didn't I?” Zoro says with a yawn as Sanji stares at him in surprise, his hands clutching at the top of the duvet with sudden modesty as if Zoro hasn't spent more than enough time with him naked. He relinquishes his hold and shuffles over slightly in his double bed that he's unused to sharing and Zoro settles in to fill the space, a little awkward with the stiffness of his cast. 

“How's your head actually feel?” Zoro asks him, his good hand trailing thoughtless patterns on Sanji's stomach through his pyjamas. 

“Sore I guess.” Sanji answers. He's got to change the bandages tomorrow and he's not looking forward to that at all. He doesn't want to see what the car wreck did to his head. 

“It's strange, sometimes your speech is just fine and sometimes it's not.” Zoro notes curiously. 

“It's not like I'm faking it!” Sanji says a little waspishly, his perfectly clear speech doing nothing to help his case.

“Didn't say that, it's just strange is all.” Zoro answers mildly, completely shrugging of Sanji's barb. 

“I h-hate it- oh for fuck's sake.” Sanji hisses, breaking his streak of perfect speech. 

“Go to sleep cook.” Zoro orders him, wrapping an arm around Sanji's middle and hauling him close under the covers. Zoro brushes his nose against Sanji's neck and settles into sleep. It's barely any time at all before Zoro's body heat drags Sanji under as well.


	20. Chapter 20

Sanji awakes to the mattress beneath him shifting and the covers above him tugging at him. He blearily opens his eyes to see Zoro's bare back facing him. The guitarist stretches his back with a ripple of muscle. Oh yeah, that's right, they went to sleep in the same bed last night. 

“Hey.” Sanji says, his voice still sleep rough. Zoro jolts a little in surprise and looks down at him, turning his back to do so. 

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Zoro whispers softly, though why he's whispering Sanji doesn't know. There's no one else on their floor and everyone who is on their floor is evidently now awake. 

“Yeah, c'mere. 'S too early.” Sanji yawns and wraps his arm around Zoro's middle to pull him back into bed. Zoro goes with a huff of displaced air from his lungs. Sanji goes about fitting his body into the angles of Zoro's frame, shuffling his head under Zoro's good arm and twining his legs over and under Zoro's as if he was some kind of octopus holding onto its prey. Zoro's so pleasantly warm that Sanji could fall back asleep right now. 

“I can't.” Zoro sighs unhappily. 

“Can.” Sanji reasons and leans up to press kisses against the corner of Zoro's jaw. 

That takes the fight out of him for a little while, Zoro leans into Sanji's sleepy uncoordinated affection.

“I have to work Sanji.” Zoro whines, though he doesn't sound particularly desperate to fulfil that obligation. 

“What? You c-can't, your arm is all... fucked up.” Sanji mumbles and bites Zoro's collar bone gently. The rerouting of his sentence takes so much more work when he's tired. Not... not that he actually cares specifically because he knows that Zoro isn't bothered by his stupid speech problems. That revelation is kind of surprising actually, he knows that Zoro doesn't care, Zoro's told him but he's just... automatically believed it instead of being skeptical like he usually might. 

“I don't mean a gig, idiot cook. I still have an actual job, the coffee shop remember? We were never gonna be playing during the week this week anyway, regardless of if we'd won that last round or not, so I was scheduled to work.” Zoro tuts and sits up again, albeit reluctantly. 

“You can't work like that, stay in bedddd.” Sanji whines, grabbing at Zoro to try to pull him back. He's far too warm to be allowed to leave the bed. 

“I can work the register, idiot. I still have to go.” Zoro argues back.

“Shit, well... stay in bed and I'll drive you. Just five more minutes.” Sanji pleads, resting his head on Zoro's shoulder hopefully. 

“You'll drive me? In what?” Zoro frowns, looking at him. 

Sanji's eyes widen. For a moment there he'd forgotten that his car is... well... a huge wreck.

“Shit. Forgot about that.” Sanji sighs, flopping back on the bed morosely. He loved that hunk of junk. He hopes that his insurance will cover it, surely since the crash had nothing to do with his driving they should, right?

Zoro's worried face appears above him. Next to Sanji's shoulder Zoro's bare and unbroken arm is supporting his weight as he leans over Sanji. 

“You forgot the crash? Sanji... tell me you haven't lost your memory.” Zoro asks with a worried intensity in his eyes. 

“Psh, what? N- I mean... y-yes! I have an- and you should keep a close eye on me alllll day. In bed.” Sanji adds with a grin. He flicks his hips up and quickly wraps his legs around Zoro's waist and smiles temptingly up at him. 

“You're the worst. I-” Zoro freezes in leaning down to kiss Sanji. His eyes are wide and he's still. At first Sanji doesn't know why Zoro's stopped until he speaks again.

“Really, you're hard already?” Zoro snorts in disbelief, casting a glance down at Sanji's straining pyjama bottoms. 

“H-hey, I just woke up. But since you're here and I'm already like this...” Sanji grins and rolls his hips against Zoro's. 

“Pervert cook.” Zoro mutters and pulls away. Sanji doesn't miss the red stain on Zoro's cheeks though and it makes him grin. Zoro can act as unaffected as he likes but Sanji isn't fooled. Zoro grumbles off and walks off into their shared bathroom and shuts the door behind him with a definitive bang and a click of the lock. 

Sanji sniggers to himself, he'll be sad to see Zoro go to work but it will probably be good for him to go. Figuring that he has nothing else to do he squirms over on his bed to reach his nightstand and unplugs his phone from the charger. He supposes that he'd better notify his horrifyingly embarrassing old man that he hasn't died of a brain haemorrhage in the night or something. Not that he cares about whether the old fart is worried about him, Zeff never worries about him. Psh. It's a stupid idea. No, he's really just calling Zeff because he has nothing better to do with Zoro being in the bathroom. Right. 

He dials his old man's number, as the call connects and starts to ring a picture pops up on his phone of Zeff at last Christmas holding up the most hideously ugly tie that Sanji had been able to buy. The joke had been on him though as for months Zeff had insisted on wearing it everywhere and telling everyone that Sanji had lovingly chosen it for him. After that it had had a nasty 'accident' in the washing machine that had shredded it and had nothing to do with the kitchen scissors that Sanji had located. 

“What? Who is it?” Zeff snaps down the phone. Sanji heaves a sigh and slaps his forehead with his palm. 

“You shitty old bastard, it's S-s-sanji. You- my name flashes up on your ph...one when I ring you.” Sanji groans, his speech sounding even more stupid than usual to Sanji's ears. He even fucked up his own name, he hates it when that happens. 

“Well how am I supposed to know that?” Zeff demands of him.

“You could, you know, fucking READ.” Sanji admonishes Zeff. 

“What do you want shit-kid?” Zeff demands gruffly, hardly the picture of parental concern. 

“I just wanted to tell you that 'm okay. No brain d-damage or anything.” he answers. A sound from across the room makes Sanji tilt his head up. Zoro is coming out of the bathroom with something in his hand and toothpaste stains at the corner of his mouth. Sanji squints at him through his unusually parted hair in confusion, he's still not quite used to it being on the other side. 

“Aside from the obvious you mean.” Zeff says and Sanji winces. Yeah, there is that. 

Zoro climbs on top of Sanji on the bed and sits down on Sanji's stomach, forcing a grunt from Sanji's lips. He scowls at Zoro and points to the phone, Zoro shrugs as if he doesn't give a fuck, which is probably true. 

“I got an appointment with your old doctor for you, she can see you tomorrow morning but I owe her a huge favour now.” Zeff informs Sanji in his ear. 

“Oi, get off already Zoro.” Sanji hisses to Zoro away from the phone. Zoro has a jar of something in his hand and he's pressing it to Sanji's side with his knee to unscrew it. As much as Sanji appreciates being pinned down by his boyfriend this isn't really what he had in mind. 

“T-that's good I guess. I was hoping it'd g-go away on its... on its... by itself. Seeing her's a g-good second though.” Sanji says then into the phone. 

Zoro scoops some white goo out of the jar and pushes back Sanji's fringe and the sudden cold on Sanji's skin as the goo touches him makes him gasp. It smells strange and he wrinkles his nose in disgust at being painted on like this. 

“Gah Zoro! Not on my face! I'm covered now!” Sanji barks out. 

“...Pervert kid.” Zeff says into Sanji's ear and then hangs up. 

Sanji's eyes go wide as he replays what Zeff must have just heard in his head. Oh dear god. 

“Goddamnit marimo!” Sanji yells, dropping the phone on the covers in resignation as Zoro rubs the stuff into his face but avoids the bandages. It makes the cuts on his skin sting too.

“Quit whining and let me do this. It'll make the bruising better, believe me I know. I used it all the time.” Zoro sighs and rubs it into the sore bridge of Sanji's nose. 

Sanji's hand comes up and cups the side of Zoro's face.

“You're never going to have to use it again.” He assures Zoro softly. Zoro smiles absently and rubs the last of the cream into Sanji's face under his eye. 

“You need help getting the bandage off?” Zoro asks, his fingers running over the rough gauze on Sanji's forehead. 

“Nah. You've only g-got the... the one arm anyway. I'm good.” Sanji answers. To be perfectly honest he doesn't want to worry about seeing Zoro's reaction to his injury, he's got a pretty solid idea of the fact that Zoro feels guilty as all hell about putting Sanji in the position of being hit by Baby's car in the first place. Even though it's nowhere near Zoro's fault. He's too used to assuming blame on himself when it's her to blame that Sanji doesn't trust him not to do it again when presented with... with whatever is under Sanji's bandages. 

“Alright, call me if you need anything. And if you see Baby...” Zoro growls, his fist tightening. 

“I'll be f-fine. She'll be lucky if- if the cops get here before... Nami and Robin.” Sanji manages, his sentence getting entirely mangled. Zoro knows what he means though. Baby's far safer in a locked cell than she is anywhere near Robin or Nami right now, those two ladies have no mercy and will completely eviscerate her if they see her. 

“You'd better pr-prom- fuck. Swear you'll do the same. Fuck my stupid mouth, this is SO fucking irritating!” Sanji curses furiously. Zoro swoops down and just kisses Sanji, his tongue sliding in Sanji's mouth almost instantly and soothing the prickle of rage through him. 

“I can fuck your mouth if you like, but I'm already late for work. And yeah, if I see her I'm sure as shit calling the cops. She's not getting away with hurting you.” Zoro vows and takes a step away, as if the temptation is just a little too much for him to trust himself to stay that close to Sanji. 

“Worry 'bout yourself jackass.” Sanji grumbles but Zoro just grins at him. 

“Later.” Zoro calls after him and saunters off out of Sanji's bedroom door and clomps off down the stairs, his footsteps loud even without his trademark heavy boots on his feet yet. 

Sanji groans to himself and crawls back under his blankets. The bed has lost most of its Zoro generated warmth already but it's still plenty comfy. An even better feature of the bed and his bedroom there is no Usopp here to yell at him for not telling everyone about Baby hurting Zoro. He knows that Zoro and Zeff both think that he did the right thing but... well... he still doesn't feel that in himself yet. It's cowardly to avoid him whilst Zoro isn't there to back him up, he knows this. He's still not keen to get out of bed though. 

Eventually his own hunger drives him out of bed and, fully dressed, Sanji makes his way downstairs to see about making breakfast. Luffy is sat in the kitchen eating his way through an entire block of cheese on it's own, straight from the packet.

“Fucking peasant. You've ruined that.” He accuses and smacks Luffy around the back of the head as punishment, he can't just waste food like that. Luffy had better eat every last scrap of that cheese since he's contaminated it, but somehow Sanji can't see Luffy considering doing anything else or accepting that as a punishment rather than a reward. With that combined with the very real possibility that Sanji won't be able to get that much of an argument out of his damn mouth he just decides not to say anything. It's just easier not to try sometimes really. It's part of why he got picked on so much before he lost the stutter, he was a quiet kid. He'd figured that the less he opened his mouth the less chances kids would have to hear his stupid stuttering so the only time he opened his yap at school was to unleash a volley of pent up cursing rage. Needless to say he didn't have a lot of friends back then. Here he is again though, falling into the same habits as before.

“Zoro went to work already.” Luffy supplies helpfully. 

“Uh-huh.” Sanji hums in agreement. 

“It isn't your fault Sanji.” Luffy says suddenly, his voice serious and quiet. Sanji turns around to look at him wide eyed. 

“I know it probably doesn't feel like it, but she did this. Not you.” Luffy adds seriously, actually putting the nearly finished block of cheese down to show just how strong his sentiment is. 

“If I'd have... have fucking said s-something-” Sanji mutters, hating himself for it. 

“Then who knows what would have gone down? Maybe Zoro would have not forgiven you for it and been on foot when she decided to run him over, or maybe he'd still be with her, or dead. You did what you did outta love and loyalty, she did what she did out of hate. Her fault, not yours.” Luffy says seriously. 

Sanji wants to believe that, so so badly but... something in his heart won't let him accept that. He wonders if he'll ever stop feeling like he should have done something, anything, differently. Still, he appreciates being told that. 

“Thanks, not everyone th-thinks that th-though.” Sanji mutters, his mind flicking to Usopp. 

“Yeah, Kaya found Usopp sleeping in the van this morning, he got back sometime through the night. I'm guessing that he didn't find her, but Kaya dragged him to bed to get some proper sleep. He's just angry.” Luffy sighs. 

Sanji grimaces and turns back to the fridge. Angry was an understatement for what Usopp was yesterday, and rightly so as far as Sanji is concerned. He's not sure what will happen when they inevitably see each other again, they live in the same house after all. 

He fixes himself a reasonable breakfast, nothing with any real passion in it but he'd rather not be queasy from lack of food when he takes his bandages off. If he's already feeling a little weak in the knees then seeing his potentially shattered skull won't do him any favours. Plus Zoro may actually skin him alive if he passes out on the bathroom floor or god forbid hits his head on the way down, especially after refusing Zoro's help. 

By the time Sanji is back in his and Zoro's shared bathroom he supposes that he's about as ready as he's ever going to be to see the mess that Baby may have made of his head. He leans on the sink and looks at his reflection in the mirror. Zeff had given him the printed post-surgery instructions that the nurses apparently gave his old man to pass on. They said that Sanji's wounds were shut with surgical glue, the skin at Sanji's scalp was too thin to make traditional stitches a good option. He wasn't supposed to scrub at the glue, just to let it come off in its own time. He wasn't supposed to soak it either, so Sanji figures that it's just showers for the meantime, no long luxurious baths in his immediate future. 

Around his forehead are thick white bandages, slightly mussed from his sleep but still otherwise secure. Over his temple is a thick cotton bandage, since it shouldn't be protecting any normal stitches Sanji frowns and guesses that it must be for padding or something. It's probably sensible, he doesn't want to survive a car crash and then do himself in by just resting on his shattered skull. 

Sanji heaves a deep calming sigh and steadies himself, he looks up at his reflection in the mirror. His face, whilst showing an expression of tense worry, is bruised and nicked with small cuts still. In fairness the little cuts look like they'll heal without a fuss and will probably be gone in a day or two, they're very shallow after all. The bruise that's blossomed over his face is a little shiny with that gunk that Zoro smeared on him, he touches it and it tingles his skin slightly and feels cool to the touch. 

Enough messing around. Sanji unpins the tail of the gauze strip and places the safety pin carefully on the sink edge. With that done he gently unravels the bandage, careful not to yank on any of his hair that's got itself caught up in it. With that removed it looks like he has a serious case of bed head, his hair is standing up at all angles and to Sanji's grim realisation there's still some dark bloodstains in his hair that the hospital clearly didn't get for him post surgery. Yum. He figures he'll need to have a shower to get any of that under control. 

He has bigger fish to fry in the short term however. The cotton dressing is still stuck lightly to the point on his temple and he still has to remove that. Biting his lip Sanji reaches up and gently pulls at it. The dressing comes away with a slightly gross sticking feeling, which thankfully turns out to be just some more stray blood rather than the glue that's holding his head together. 

The hair on the side of his head up by his temple has been buzzed short up as far as his fringe, giving him a surprising undercut look. 

“Very punk.” Sanji mutters wryly to himself. He runs his fingertips over the short almost fuzzy hair, it feels a little funny but actually... he kind of likes it a little. Sanji wonders idly what Zoro will think of it. 

He tilts his head to the side and now it's very obvious where his head hit the window. Right at his temple there is a spiderweb of red lines with a sheen of translucent glue covering it. It's all red and tender looking, with more than a little swelling. Gingerly he touches the glue and only feels a slight throb of pain, it's hard to believe that under there is his shattered skull. 

He'd looked up his injury since it happened, apparently what he has was the kind of fracture where his skull dented inwards. He's lucky to still be alive and unharmed. Or mostly unharmed anyway. His throat feels tight as he looks at the injury and he clears his throat to try to ease the feeling. The cough echoes in the confined and tiled space of their bathroom, the sound reverberating around a few times as if to emphasise the quiet of the room. Still, all that padding on there was for a reason, he'd be stupid to leave it off entirely. 

He rinses his hair quickly over the bath and dries it with a short sharp blast from the hair drier in the bathroom wall. He bandages himself up again, he's not ready to go around looking like that just yet. Besides he'd rather keep his head as undamaged as possible. 

He's not undamaged though is he? His voice is wrecked, just like it was when he was a kid. If this doesn't get better then he can't keep on being in the band, he won't drag the others down with him. If he did that Baby would win. Still, singing was one of the things that got him out of stuttering in the first place, his focus on his breath, pitch and tone were what helped him to move past his stuttered and stammered voice and develop into something skilled and smooth. 

Perhaps he could do the same this time too. He's not tried singing yet, he suppose he can live with his speaking voice being fucked if his singing voice is okay. Maybe he's making a big deal out of nothing, maybe he can sing still and he's just getting his head in a spin over the mere idea that he might not be able to sing. He needs to try. Anyway, alone in the privacy and good acoustics of his bathroom is a good a place as anywhere to try. 

He needs a song with good even pacing, one that won't cause him to stumble because the words are going too fast. His mind flicks onto one in particular. He leans down and turns the tap on and drinks from it, wetting his throat. Sanji licks his lips nervously and clears his throat with a cough. 

He begins. 

“I’ll start this broken heart  
I’ll fi-i”

His voice judders and anxiety clutches at Sanji's insides. He swallows thickly, he has to continue, he can push through this right? He takes a breath and continues.

“I'll fix it up so it will w-w-work again,  
Better than...   
Better than before,  
Then I’ll st-st-st-ar in a... a mystery  
A t-tragic tale of all that’s yet to come  
Fingers crossed th-there will be love”

He stops at the end of that verse, he doesn't need to sing any more. He knows what the situation is now. 

He slides to the floor, resting on the slightly damp bath mat. He tangles his fingers in his hair and though he feels the uncomfortable tug of the surgical glue on his scalp he can't quite bring himself to care. He can't sing, not like this. He's lost it, he's lost everything. The others don't know the extent of it yet, perhaps they haven't properly realised what this means. After all there's so much going on with their revelation about Baby and Zoro it makes sense that they're not fretting about this like he is. 

Sanji pulls his phone from his pocket and unlocks it. He flicks to his messages and opens a new one, he clicks in the “sent to” field and opens up his contacts. For a moment his thumb hesitates over whether to select Zoro's name or Zeff's name, in the end he goes with Zeff though. 

“I just tried, I can't sing”

He sends the text off to his old man and then drops the phone on the floor, his distress overwhelming him. A text from his old man pings back to him and Sanji can see it on the screen without even picking his phone up. 

“9am tomorrow, same address as it used to be.”

Sanji hopes like hell that this works. He clutches at his phone, the sharp edges of it cutting into his palm as he tries and fails to repress the sobs building inside of him. Everything he is keeps slipping away from him. 

 

It is Wednesday morning and the carpet that Sanji is sitting on is scratchy, it's the kind of cheap carpet that you can clean over and over again and still keep it looking the same. It's a kid's carpet with a bright jigsaw pattern all over it in a spectrum of primary and secondary colours. Sanji traces the edge of one jigsaw piece with a fingernail and remembers doing the same thing as a little kid. 

“Like I told Zeff already, I'm a child's speech therapist. I don't deal with adults.” His doctor says. She's the same doctor that he had when he was a kid. He was twelve the last time he was in this office and here he is, back again. 

“P-please Doctorine, it's so important! I c-can't even-” Sanji pleads, looking at her wide eyed and begging. 

“Why should I?” She asks bluntly, her arms folded and her scowl in place. At least her arm folding covers her distressing crop top. 

“Because it's Wednesday a-and-” He tries but the old witch cuts him off.

“I don't give a shit if it's Wednesday, that doesn't mean I have to help you.” She says snippily. 

“BECAUSE this weekend I'm fucking supposed to be singing as the lead singer for my band! If I can't get my shit together our band is gonna lose to the psycho bitch who tried to KILL me and my boyfriend! THAT'S WHY!” Sanji yells furiously, all his frustration, fear and anger is pouring out of him like poison from a wound. 

He's shaking with rage and part of him can't believe that he just screamed at her like that. What is he, nine again? He's long been able to put aside that Doctorine was a woman and that he shouldn't be mean to her, she's a hard old bitch but he likes her, he has the same kind of aggressively affectionate relationship with the speech therapist as he does with his old man. 

“So, I see anger still helps your speech then and the swearing like a sailor.” Doctrine smiles smugly. Sanji sighs softly to himself, she tricked him. Of course she did. He really should try harder to not rise to every bait that someone throws out for him. 

“I d-don't give a shit about my tal- talk- about my speaking voice. I just need to s-sing.” He says softly. That gets a skeptical raised eyebrow from Doctorine. The old woman leans forward to look at him, her arms folded over her knees as she peers at his face. 

“You used to hate your speech impediment, you said you'd give anything to never speak like that again. You used to say that people laughed at you for it, judged you because of it. Yet now you're saying that you don't care?” She asks curiously. 

“Fuck people who care about how I talk. If they give a shit about me t-then they don't care about...” Sanji trails off, the words sticking in his throat as the memory of Zoro's reaction to his speech floats through Sanji's mind. He thinks it's somewhat endearing, at the very least he doesn't seem to think it's stupid. Franky didn't really care, he was just making bad and insensitive jokes. It's not like he really meant any harm even though it was a pretty douchebaggy thing to do. 

“Singing is my life, I need to be able to... to do it a-again. I know you were... you were all about developm- about- fuck. About stuff people have always had.” Sanji says, talking around the stupid word. 

“I know mine went away, but I cracked my sk-skull open when Zoro's ex tried to- to- s-she. I-” Sanji abandons that sentence with a snarl, it's just getting choked up in his throat. With a sigh he pulls his replaced bandages away and shows his cracked skull to Doctorine.

“You think the injury brought your speech difficulties back, that it's injury related rather than developmental like it was when you saw me last. Am I correct in assuming that's what you're thinking here?” Doctorine concludes. She doesn't usually try to speak for him, but it seems like she's getting at a specific point, though what it is Sanji can't guess. 

“Duh.” Sanji answers. Of course it's to do with the fact that he nearly had his brains turn to scrambled egg. 

“Sorry to break it to you kiddo but brain trauma has nothing to do with making speech disorders reappear. It can cause them if you get them to certain parts of your brain, but you're more likely to get speech loss than stammering. This isn't because you hit your head.” Doctorine concludes, leaning back in her chair. 

Sanji's jaw falls open. Is this woman high or something? Of course it's because he got his brain rattled around inside his skull like a marble in a pinball machine! Speech comes from the brain, it's obvious!

“Before you start trying to correct me in my own specialism, I'm not saying that this wasn't brought back out by getting in a car crash. Zeff told me a little about it and from what you've just said I'm assuming that what happened to you wasn't actually an accident in the strict sense of the term. Will you tell me what happened?” Doctorine asks him. 

“My boyfriend Zoro... he's the guitarist in the band I'm in. He- he us-used to date this girl Baby, she wa-was the singer before me. She was... abusive to him and he only left her when he and I started... well, when we got together. She... she took it b-badly and when she realised th-that she couldn't get him back she... she... drove her car in-into us. Zoro's arm is br-br-oken and now I c-can't sing.” Sanji explains, his throat tightening around all of the words he can't quite get out. Even just talking about it is hard. He remembers the fear of seeing her lights coming towards them, of his instinctive reaction to snap his arm out and yank Zoro as far out of harm's way as he can. He recalls the sound of shattering glass and the way blood oozed from Zoro's broken arm. Sanji's pretty sure that it will be years before the image of Zoro's jagged radius pushed through his skin stops flashing behind his eyelids. 

“Now that... that's what's caused this to come back. That accident caused you trauma Sanji and I'm not talking about the psychical kind.” She says, her voice radiating utter certainty. 

“You're saying that this is... is just... it's all in my head?” He says incredulously. He's not making this up and if he could just think about it and switch it off then he sure as shit would! He doesn't want to mess up his chances with following his dream and he certainly doesn't want to drag his friends down with him either!

“Everything is, for everyone. Look, I can walk you through the same therapy and practice that we did before to help you, but you really ought to look into a different kind of therapy, both you and your guitarist boyfriend.” Doctorine says, her voice uncharacteristically gentle. 

“Somehow I doubt Zoro would.... would go for that.” Sanji mumbles. He really can't visualise Zoro sitting around with a stranger spilling out his feelings to them. Zoro barely only gets all deep and emotional with him and Sanji knows a hell of a lot more of his deep dark secrets than most. Or he did until recently.

“Why not ask him to get assessed, and yourself too? If nothing is wrong with either of you then there's nothing to lose. But I am a doctor after all.” Doctorine reminds him.

“Don't remind me.” Sanji mutters looking away in irritation. When he was a kid he could never believe that this outrageous woman was qualified to do her job. But it had to be said for her that she did manage to get rid of his stuttering and Sanji was never able to dig up any signs of fraud with her though he tried hard to find one. 

“Well, I can fit you in tomorrow and see you every week if you like. I can tell you're not going to be dissuaded by me, despite my knowledge and youthful beauty.” Doctorine says, flicking her hair over her shoulder flirtatiously. 

“No, I need more than that Doctorine. Every day... please!” Sanji pleads. 

Doctorine's eyes narrow as she looks down at him. She seems to test him, holding his gaze uncomfortably long until one of them breaks. Whatever it is that she's looking for in him though, it seems that she finds it. 

“Every other day, and no more than that.” She says sternly.

“Thank you!” Sanji exclaims delightedly. To be honest he hadn't thought before asking that he could manage every single day, with Doctorine it's always better to overshoot what he wants so that when she shoots him down and barters him down to something that he wanted in the first place. It's a good plan. 

“Now piss off out of my office.” Doctorine says with a scowl and a flick of her hand. Sanji appropriately nods and scampers out of her office. 

 

Sanji is humming as he cooks, he's humming one of their songs, specifically the second song in their most recent setlist. He's humming the lyrics but not actually singing the words. To his pleasure Sanji discovers that he can get through the whole song with no effort at all, none of the notes get lodged sideways in his throat and threaten to choke him. That's good, tomorrow he'll do what he used to do before and sing, just replace all of the sounds with gibberish or “la la la” type sounds. He'll still sing the tune, just not the words. Like that he'll build his singing back up, bit by bit. That's the only way he can focus on it, if he thinks about the enormity of not being able to sing then... then he might just lose it again. 

A loud slam startles Sanji nearly out of his skin and he leaps about a foot in the air and swears at the top of his lungs. 

“SHIT!” He yelps.

“Missed you too sunshine.” Comes a sarcastic voice from the hallway. Zoro's voice in fact. 

“Fuck off.” Sanji growls, not really meaning it but it's the principle of the thing. Perhaps someday he and Zoro will be mature enough not to have these childish asides in their conversation but Sanji hopes not, he quite enjoys them. 

Zoro sticks his head around the kitchen door. His arm is obviously still in plaster and Sanji gets an uncomfortable twinge in his gut just from looking at it. He tries not to, he doesn't want to make Zoro insecure about it. 

“Saw Doctorine today.” Sanji says. He realises as he says it that he's fallen back into his old childish rituals of cutting out as many of the unnecessary words as possible out of his sentence. He should have said “Zoro, I went to see my old doctor, Doctorine, today.” but when he was a kid he figured that the fewer words he had to say the less words he had to fuck up. He was a master at trimming down sentences to their most minimal whilst still containing meaning. It was a bad and stupid habit and he really shouldn't allow himself to fall back into it. 

“Doctorine?” Zoro asks curiously and pulls off his hoodie, exposing a ripple of bare abs that make Sanji tongue tied for reasons entirely separate to his speech impediment. Sanji feels a little guilty and goes to help Zoro when he realises that he's stuck trying to get the darn thing off of himself with his cast in the way. 

“My... ah, my old speech t-therapist.” Sanji explains, not cutting any linguistic corners this time and paying the price for it. Goddamnit. 

Zoro kisses him suddenly, soft and lingering right on the mouth. Zoro's smiling a small dopy smile when he pulls away. 

“W-what the fuck was that for moss brain?” Sanji blinks in surprise.

“Just cause I can. Go on.” Zoro smiles. Sanji reddens, the bastard has no business being cute like that. 

“A-ah. Right. Uh.” Sanji scrambles, trying to collect his thoughts. Zoro snickers, presumably pleased at having scattered Sanji's mind. Sanji flips him off for good measure. 

“She- she kind of said that it's a-a-a... fuck. Let me just...” Sanji trails off, squeezing his eyes shut. 

He drums his fingers on the counter behind him and leans back on it, so his hand is partly hidden from view. Zoro is silent and watching him patiently, he's not jumping in and trying to speak for Sanji like so many people used to. Sanji loves him a little more just for that.

His fingers count out a 1-2-3-4 rest 1-2-3-4 rest pattern on the table. It's like a song, just think of it like a song. A fucking stupid childish little- ugh. Not helpful. He needs to focus on the beat. 1-2-3-4 rest.

“She said it's kind... of all in my... head.” Sanji says in measured beats. Though he feels weird leaving that last one syllable hanging all on it's own. It makes his speech weird as fuck and creeps people out but he can often get through a conversation without stuttering if he does it like that. 

“Well, duh. Head injury. Your brain is kind of in your head, for what little brain you have in there, curly.” Zoro grins at him teasingly. No comment on the odd speech pattern, Sanji wants to blow him as a gesture of gratitude and hey where did that thought come from? Down boy. 

...not a bad idea though.

Ugh, he needs to get back on topic. 

“It's not like that. She means kind of... psych-ol-o-gy.” Sanji manages the big word, split it up into beats, like a song. 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4. 

“From the crash you mean? It's freaked everyone else out, I'd be weirded out if it hadn't messed with you too. But... can it really affect your speech like that?” Zoro asks, tilting his head curiously. 

“Fuck if I know. She thinks I should... go and be seen... by... fuck. I don't know like... someone qualif-qualified.” Sanji forces out. Too many syllables in that last one, broke the rythym. Fuck Sanji hates having stupid speech problems like this. 

“A shrink?” Zoro asks curiously.

“Yeah for me and... well also for... for you Zoro. Doctorine said... that you should get... looked at by one.” Sanji says. His speech sounds stupid as all hell like this but it is literally the only way that he can force this horrifying conversation out of himself. If he just focuses on that 1-2-3-4 pattern then he doesn't have to focus on the shit that he's saying and how it might hurt Zoro or even the look on Zoro's face.

“For me?” Zoro repeats flatly. Sanji nods and stares at his shoes. 

“What did you tell her?” He asks, he doesn't sound mad, but tense. Sanji still doesn't like it. 

“Nothin' much, ok?” Sanji mumbles, cheating to get that pattern right. 

“And what do you think?” Zoro asks carefully and stays silent until Sanji meets his eyes. 

“Fuck if I know. I mean, maybe. I- I keep having... having nightmares. Maybe you're fine. Can't hurt though, right?” he answers eventually. 

“I'm not crazy. She is crazy and I'm not like her. The very last thing I want to become is like her. Her dad fucked her up completely and she turned from the girl that I... from her into the thing that ran her car into us. I don't want that to happen to me, I'm not crazy ok?” Zoro growls, glaring at him. Sanji can see the sheen of manic desperation in his eyes. He wants Sanji to say 'no of course not' or 'I believe in you'. However, this may be one of those times where as Zoro's boyfriend he's got an obligation to do what's best for him rather than what he wants at this second. 

“Okay, prove it.” Sanji challenges, jutting his chin defiantly. 

“If I gotta... if I gotta get my head ch-checked then... then you oughta do it w-with me. If you're f-fine and good then there's nothing to fuss about, right?” He presses. Partially he thinks that Zoro doesn't want to get his head checked out, whether it's because the concept is scary and invasive or whether it's because Zoro isn't completely certain that his results will come out clean. He's abandoned his 1-2-3-4 method and so his speech is fucked up, but he needs to put his mental energy into meaning what he says and thinking about what he says rather than splitting it up into four beats like a fucking haiku master. 

“Also... I don't wanna do it alone.” He admits softly.

When he looks at Zoro the other man doesn't look happy, but... he doesn't look angry either. More like he looks resigned. 

“Fine. But... do you think I'm crazy?” Zoro asks gently, his eyes wide and searching. 

Sanji smiles, all soft and gentle and steps in close to Zoro. 

“I don't think so, and even if you are in some way I don't think you're anything like her. I trust you.” Sanji says honestly and thanks whatever gods may be that his speech came out perfect that time, that was a sentence so important that he needed it to be just right. 

Zoro melts against him as much as a man with a cast encased arm can. His nose rubs up the tendons on the side of Sanji's neck and nuzzles at his ear. Fingers move up and rub over Sanji's fuzz on the side of his head. 

“You took your bandages off ok. I kinda like the short hair on you.” Zoro says, entirely changing the subject. That's a topic change Sanji is happy with. 

“Yeah. The scar looks so... fucking... I- ugh.” Sanji just gives up as his speech clogs up in his throat and refuses to move. 

“I think it looks really fucking metal.” Zoro says affectionately and rubs and finger gently through the short fuzzy blonde hair. Oh dear god that was supposed to be a compliment and Zoro is the worst at sweet talk and why on earth do Sanji's insides feel like they've been replaced with a swarm of butterflies and fluff? Sanji feels his face heat up in a snap and he's sure that he's gone bright pink if not entirely red. 

“Shut up asshat.” Sanji mutters and ducks out of Zoro's grip and ignores the man's sniggers. 

Sanji turns back to his cooking and Zoro hops up onto the counter amiably and entirely as if his butt wasn't all over Sanji's nice clean work surface. Sanji ignores it though and goes about his business, if that isn't love he doesn't know what is. He returns to humming as he stirs sauces and keeps an eye on the boiling water and the contents of his oven. He's cooking a gorgeous sweet and sour chicken dinner with egg fried rice and homemade spring rolls, it's been quite relaxing really. Still, not everyone appreciates his efforts quite so much. Robin, Nami and Kaya are all cultured women of course and alter his dishes only so much as a pinch of salt or pepper. Other people however fuck with his flavours. 

Franky flat out refused creamy sauces and though Sanji made his best to accommodate tastes like that by providing a range of choices he sometimes cut things out that unbalanced his dish. And that fucking long nosed keyboard player felt the need to drown almost everything Sanji cooked in ketchup of all things. Sanji is seriously considering banning that hideous sauce or keeping it under lock and key. 

“Where are the goddamn onions,  
I swear I saw them in here earlierrrr.” Sanji sings vaguely under his breath absentmindedly. 

“Found you, found you,  
Behind the ketchup,  
The next person who uses that sauce,  
Will be stabbed in the eye of courseeee” Sanji sings vengefully and slams the door shut. He's not even paying attention to it, he's just narrating his thoughts through the medium of stupid ditties. He only realises that he's doing it when Zoro outright giggles at him. 

“That's an amazing song, shit I gotta write that down or record this!” Zoro exclaims, fumbling in his pockets for his phone.

“D-dont you dare!” Sanji squawks. 

“But you were singing perfectly, no hitches or stumbles at all.” Zoro points out with a big broad smile spread across his face. Sanji halts in his track whilst his heart does a little fluttery thing in his chest, Zoro doesn't smile like that as often as he could. He spends too much time with a surly tough guy face on that when he smiles so broad like that it lights up his whole face. It also gives Sanji a serious case of the warm and fuzzies and makes him significantly more likely to do anything that Zoro asks. 

“Fine.” He pouts turning back to his sauce with reddening ears that have nothing to do with the heat from the stovetop. 

“You should try singing again.” Zoro suggests in ignorant but well meaning helpfulness. His face is a shining ray of hope that makes Sanji feel like a complete shitbag for not being able to live up to his expectations. 

“I've t-tried Zoro. So fucking hard. Just doesn't work.” Sanji answers through gritted teeth. 

“It did then. Try again now, just sing anything. Make it up as you go.” Zoro says as if that's the simplest thing in the world. 

Sanji takes his pots off of the stove and rests his hands on the work surface. He breathes in a deep calming breath that tastes like five spice and steam. Zoro is trying to be nice. Instead he's just being trying to Sanji's patience but... he's giving a shit, that's the thing he needs to keep in mind here.

“You're th-the one that c-a-can do that, asshole. Not me.” Sanji manages, feeling the steam from his pan heat his cheeks and the beginnings of a stress headache starting to thrum behind his eyes. 

“You did it before and you can't tell me that your song about stabbing people in the eyes for using ketchup is a secret underground song. Or have I mistaken you and you're actually a secret obscure music snob and have been all along?” Zoro mocks him. 

“They're a very obscure b-band, you probably haven't heard of th-them.” Sanji grins despite himself and Zoro laughs again. The two of them could turn sarcasm into an art form. Hey, perhaps if the whole music thing doesn't work out they could take their snarkiness on the road. 

“It doesn't have to be the song of the century, and you've done it before. Just whatever comes into your head. Come on.” Zoro says. 

Sanji looks at him, he's not begging, he's not even asking. He's almost telling Sanji to. Zoro's not challenging him though, not baiting him into it or tricking him into it. Whether that's because Zoro knows that wouldn't work right now or out of respect for the subject at hand he doesn't know. Either way this isn't a game that Sanji feels especially up for. 

He says nothing and instead replaces his pots onto the hob whilst then proceeding to look inside the oven. It's not that he doesn't want to sing, singing is pretty much his favourite thing to do ever. Well, except possibly getting laid, but to be honest he's had more emotional singing experiences than he has sexual ones. Plus there's the fact that he was... musically intimate with Zoro before he was physically so. Although there was that time when they did both at the same time. Damnit he's getting distracted. He wants that music connection again so badly but what if he tries again and fails? Sure he managed that little ketchup ditty but that was different, Zoro wants him not just to sing a song but to make one up on the spot?

He can't do it. He just can't. 

Zoro is starting to hum softly under his breath, like Sanji can't hear him. Just how stupid does Zoro think that he is? Sanji shoots the man a glare, but from his counter top perch Zoro looks as innocent as a saint. Why, surely the humming must be coincidental. An angel like that would never try to deviously bait Sanji into singing by humming an admittedly catchy tune. 

Yeah right. 

Sanji snorts and stirs his sauce.

...It is pretty catchy though. It's the same first few lines of some song, slightly upbeat but with a defined rythym that Zoro is drumming out on the work surface with his fingers. Before too long Sanji finds himself humming along with it. 

Fucking fine already, Zoro wants the first thing that pops into his head to be in a song? He can have it. 

“In early '99, I beat the Ocarina Of Time,  
I'm quite the legend in this town.” 

Sanji sticks to Zoro's little tune perfectly, he tries not to think about it and to focus more on the pitch and the rhythm than the words. 

Sanji opens his mouth to go on but suddenly a freight train of doubt slams into him, he got out two lines perfectly but what if he can't do more? This making songs up on the spot is Zoro's thing. He doesn't want to look at Zoro but he doesn't need to, the guitarist's smile is so radioactive that it's bleaching out the edges of Sanji's eyesight. Hell, he'll keep going then.

“M-my friends get-” 

Aaand he's lost it. Great. He plants his hands on the counter top and hisses angrily at himself, he's gone and let Zoro down now. 

“Go on.” Zoro urges.

Sanji shakes his head a firm no. 

“In early '99, I beat the Ocarina Of Time,  
I'm quite the legend in this town.  
My friends get...” 

Zoro leads temptingly, parroting Sanji's own lyrics back at him. Sanji chews his lip. He knows how to make his words come out but... he tries again.

“My friends get wicked shit  
from all the foul-mouthed fools you -you roll with.”

Sanji adds those lines, trying to force them out. It doesn't sound great but it's more lyrics. 

He stumbles there, he doesn't know what else to sing. His hand wanders to his temple and his shattered skull beneath. His mouth moves without the permission of Sanji's brain.

“Just push your luck,   
there will be blood,  
most likely our own carnage.”

This shit doesn't make sense, it doesn't rhyme it doesn't... do anything. But even so... he's singing. He's doing it. 

Seemingly sensing his pause Zoro chips in a few lines for the cause to keep Sanji rolling. 

“We all just wanna do our thing,  
without the misery you bring.”

Sanji grins, are they singing about Baby now? Or just all the people that have pissed them off throughout their respective lives? He imagines her, he imagines everyone who ever mocked him for not being able speak or sing right, none of them are going to win this. He'll show them!

“Go fuck yourselves, leave us alone.  
Y-you all need to go away,  
you motherfuckers.”

Sanji is still fucking up his words, stumbling over them and adding syllables that shouldn't be there because the words get stuck behind his tongue and won't move. But, despite all of that he's kind of having fun. Though from his rather aggressive chorus beginning he really doesn't have any idea of where to go from here. This is why this is Zoro's thing. 

“You all need to leave me and my homeboys alone.  
You all need to go away,  
you motherfuckers.” 

Zoro sings for him and Sanji can't help but burst out into surprised laughter.

“Homeboys, seriously?!” Sanji cackles, laughing so hard that he has to hold his sides to contain himself enough to speak. 

“I am so serious, I could be in a gang you know.” Zoro says with a completely straight face. 

“A gang of- of losers you mean!” Sanji howls hysterically.

“What, like that band of losers you're in?” the guitarist snorts. 

“We're in. The same. BAND.” He gasps, far too beyond laughter now and more into something resembling some kind of asthma attack. 

“You all need to leave me and my sensitive homeboys alone.”

Zoro sings with full sincerity and Sanji giggles helplessly into his arm. He finally manages to get his laughter under control and walks over to the corner of the work surface where Zoro is sat. He's still got an amused grin on his face but he manages to banish it long enough to kiss Zoro. 

It occurs to Sanji that it's more or less right here where he and Zoro first kissed. He still remembers how fantastically bad that turned out at the time. But he supposes that things have worked out for the better in the long term, now he can kiss Zoro all the time. Still Zoro could have made the whole debacle far easier by just being open with everyone in the first place. 

Sanji sighs and leans in close to Zoro. 

“I can't say that character would be... would be one of your strongest assets,  
not that we're perfect merely...” 

Sanji trails off, not sure where that line was going, but Zoro seems to.

“Extra perfect.” 

The guitarist fills in, making Sanji snigger. 

“So don't think you know a thing   
about a thing you know nothing about,  
go fuck yourselves, leave us alone.”

The kitchen door bangs open, hitting the wall as it almost always does. Sanji startles a little and the pair of them look over at the door. It's Usopp standing there with Kaya behind him.

“Uhm... I'll just-” Usopp says quickly, his face red and uncomfortable. He moves to back out of the room but Kaya moves and Usopp yelps as if startled. Sanji suspects that she jabbed him in the back. 

Man and wife share a significant look before Usopp gives into her silent demands. Chewing his lip Usopp carefully looks up at the pair of them again. 

Sanji looks from Usopp to Zoro. The guitarist is holding his whole body as stern and as stiff as if all of him was in a cast and not just his arm. He's meeting Usopp's gaze alright, unblinking and challenging. His expression seems to say 'yeah, now what are you gonna do?'

“I uh... I wanted to apologise. For yesterday.” Usopp clarifies, though his voice is so soft that Sanji almost can't hear him. 

Sanji hesitates, this isn't really a conversation for him. Usopp and Zoro are best friends and this apology is between them. He tries to move away from Zoro to give the two men some space but Zoro's got a firm grip of Sanji's shirt sleeve and doesn't appear to be willing to let him budge. 

“Who are you apologising to?” Zoro questions, his voice stiff with all of the mirth from their impromptu jam session evaporated away without a trace. 

“To... to both of you.” Usopp answers, flicking a very brief look at Sanji before returning his gaze firmly to Zoro. 

“There's no one here called 'both of you'. If you're apologising you can apologise to Sanji and then to me. You can't just give a catch all apology to him and me.” Zoro says stiffly, his gaze unwavering from Usopp. 

Usopp grits his teeth and a growls quietly in frustration but Zoro's firm gaze isn't letting up at all. 

“H-hey, Zoro. It's... it's fine. He was just- just u-upset. I- I don't...” Sanji scrambles to say, his words getting tangled up. He takes a deep breath and tries again. 

“It's fine, really. I don't want to... get in between... the both of you. You're his best friend.” Sanji says slowly but earnestly. The last thing he wants to do is to make Zoro 'that guy', the one who falls out with his friends over a disagreement about... well, typically it would be a girlfriend but that's not really the case here. Although Zoro's previous girlfriend is still technically what they're all fighting about. Goddamnit, even now Baby's presence is still causing trouble for them all. 

“I don't care if you don't want an apology for you, I do. Usopp shouldn't have said that shit to you. So go on Usopp, what are you here for?” Zoro asks challengingly. 

“I'm sorry I hurt your feelings Sanji, and you Zoro.” Usopp apologises a little meekly, Kaya rubs her hand soothingly on Usopp's back. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that she's almost certainly the one who encouraged him to come here and apologise. Which isn't to say that Sanji doesn't believe that he wants to make up, just that perhaps he isn't ready to yet. He appreciates that Usopp is at least listening to the advice of his sensible wife though, as a married man should. 

“You're going to need to do better than that.” the guitarist says, his voice steely and sharp like a blade. 

“Zoro.” Sanji hisses softly. Usopp is his best friend, even though he was a dick before it doesn't mean that Zoro gets to behave the same way back. Further dickish-ness will not solve this problem!

“Sanji.” The mulishly stubborn green haired idiot responds back, his voice flat and unmoving. Great, he's not going to be swayed from this is he? Sanji sighs and considers returning to his cooking, he doesn't want any part of this. But... if he turns his back on Usopp then the keyboard player may well take that as him shunning whatever apology he offers and he doesn't want that to happen, they don't need another fight. 

“I don't... agree. I'll never agree with you keeping quiet about this... this shit with Baby. I don't agree with either of you keeping it quiet, but... I shouldn't have gone off like that.” Usopp says quietly, glaring at the ground and still looking more angry than contrite. 

“Why didn't you just tell me Zoro?! Didn't you trust me? I thought I was your best friend!” Usopp yells suddenly, his gaze snapping to Zoro heatedly.

“You ARE my best friend you fucking idiot!” Zoro snarls, leaping from the counter to the other side of it, away from Sanji and closer to Usopp. Zoro looks like he's about to punch someone and Usopp looks ready to scream.

“Oh god, will the two of you just-” Kaya groans, looking balefully at the pair of them. 

“If I'm your best friend then why couldn't you tell me about her? About what she was doing to you? I could have helped!” Usopp shouts, his voice hurt and upset. 

“I didn't want to tell you because I was scared okay!?” Zoro bellows into the suddenly very quiet room. 

Kaya and Usopp are both staring at Zoro wide eyed, as if neither of them can believe their ears that they just heard Zoro of all people admit that he was scared. It's not such a surprise for Sanji, he knows full well that Baby does scare Zoro. She scares anyone who knows her well enough, Sanji included. But looking at Zoro... it's almost hard to believe. 

Zoro is a tall guy, he's built like someone who is far more dedicated to the gym than Zoro actually seems to be. Sanji supposes it's good genetics or something, lucky bastard. He's strong looking with punky moss green hair, a tough guy expression and multiple piercings. To put to mildly Zoro looks like someone who can handle himself even with the broken arm. He doesn't look like someone who would easily admit that he was scared of someone, much less someone who at first glance looks so fay and unthreatening as Baby. 

Sanji wonders if either Usopp or Kaya have ever heard Zoro admit that about anything before, from their somewhat shocked expressions Sanji guesses not. Some selfish part of him feels privileged that he's been allowed to see that side of Zoro. 

“I was... scared.” Zoro repeats quietly, but everyone can hear him. Zoro isn't looking at Usopp now, instead he's glaring at his shoes with a flush of red high on his cheeks. 

“I didn't want to admit that I'd lied, I didn't want to admit that I had fucked up that badly. I knew you'd lose it if you knew that I'd lied. Besides... I know it sounds stupid to say but she really made me think that I didn't have any other choice.” Zoro admits softly, his hands shut tight and his whole body is a tense line. The anger and shock on Usopp's face is rapidly fading to something that looks frankly a little queasy. 

“What do you mean you didn't have any other choice?” Usopp asks in a voice that suggests that he's almost afraid to hear the answer. 

“She'd... she'd get in my head you know? She'd either threaten to lie to all of you and make you believe her or she guilted me into staying with her. She told me it was pointless trying to go because I always broke and took her back anyway, and she was right, I did. I'm an idiot.” Zoro snarls angrily at himself. 

“You're not an idiot Zoro, we've been over this.” Sanji cuts in irritably. He doesn't want Zoro to think about that shit anymore, if he does there's a risk he could slip back into believing it. 

“But I should have been able to see through it all without-” the idiot protests.

“Shut your face-hole, moron. Stop giving her airtime up here, she doesn't deserve it. You're not stupid, she just manipulated you, she's good at that.” Sanji corrects Zoro firmly. Usopp watches their exchange with wide eyes, looking from Zoro to Sanji before settling his gaze on Sanji. He pretends not to notice the keyboard player's watchful eyes.

“You just called me a moron though whilst you told me I'm not an idiot.” Zoro points out with the beginnings of a smug little grin on his face. That expression, whilst endlessly annoying, is a much more Zoro like expression and one Sanji far prefers seeing to the scared and upset expression he was wearing before. Sanji doesn't answer and instead just lobs a balled up dishtowel at Zoro's head in retribution. Zoro laughs and flings it back at Sanji. 

That at least seems to break the tense mood and when Zoro drops his arm, the one not encased in plaster of course, he looks considerably more relaxed. Zoro returns his attention to Usopp and Kaya and seems to take in the sight of the two of them together for a moment or two before speaking again.

“I know it sounds dumb, but I wanted to badly to have what you and Kaya have and... she made me think that I didn't stand a chance of that with anyone but her. So I just kept hoping that if I stayed with her long enough or worked hard enough with her that maybe we'd get to that. I'd even thought that maybe if we ever got there I could tell you that we were together again and things would just turn out... not so shit.” He says with a weary sigh. 

Usopp wails and flings himself at Zoro, just narrowly missing his broken arm thanks to Zoro's quick reflexes. Usopp sobs into Zoro's shoulder, though the words of apology Sanji can't quite make out due to the distance and the fact that Usopp seems to be speaking through a mouthful of t-shirt. Kaya looks over to Sanji and makes eye contact. She smiles and rolls her eyes at the two men, shaking her head in weary exasperation. Sanji grins a little despite himself, they're a pair of idiots. 

Sanji gives what Zoro said a little bit of thought. He supposes it makes sense that Zoro saw and had been hoping for some future with Baby, or else his staying with her doesn't make much sense. But equally he knows that Zoro was deluding himself, and on some level Zoro did too, he wouldn't have said what he did at Usopp's wedding to Sanji otherwise. Still, Baby royally fucked up her chance and doesn't deserve Zoro anyway. 

He knows of course that none of this is Zoro's fault but in all honesty Zoro's personality probably made the whole thing worse. Zoro is stubborn and driven, when he wants something he'll work to death to get it. He spends more time than anyone practicing his instrument because he wants to be the best. Zoro stays awake and plays when everyone else has got tired and left the practice room. Even when they're all sitting together watching a movie Sanji has seen Zoro's fingers idly moving into chord patterns on the arm of the sofa. If he was ever determined that he and Baby were going to get to a relationship as good as Usopp and Kaya's then he knows that Zoro would find it hard to give up that dream and admit defeat. The problem is that the guitar is something Zoro can practice and the only variable is Zoro himself, but with his relationship with Baby the case was that the woman herself was a factor that Zoro couldn't just get better at. 

Usopp eventually pulls away with streaming eyes and nose, leaving Zoro a little more gentler of expression and with a considerably more damp shirt. Sanji can only surmise that whatever apologies the two best friends needed to exchange were done in that private moment because both men look like they have a big weight off of their shoulders. 

The keyboard player doesn't seem to be done though and he sharply turns to face Sanji and suddenly and dramatically bows and clasps his hands in apology. 

“I'm so sorry Sanji!” Usopp exclaims loudly. 

“Uh...” Sanji mumbles in surprise. 

“I shouldn't have said that you were replaceable, it was cruel and untrue. I mean, you are replaceable in a sense. I mean you came in here filling someone else's spot but in a sense we're all replaceable but that doesn't mean that- ow!” Usopp yelps as Zoro slaps him in the arm and fixes him with a warning scowl. 

“I mean-!” Usopp squeaks.

“I get y-your point.” Sanji sniggers at Zoro's protectiveness, it's fucking cute is what it is. He's going to tease Zoro to death about this later for sure. 

“I can't say I agree with your choice not to tell us, and I don't know if I would have done that in your place but... I get that you did what you thought was best for Zoro. I was wrong when I accused you of being selfish or manipulative about it, that was mean.” Usopp says quietly, his big brown eyes downcast in shame. 

“T-to be honest... I don't know if I did the right thing e-either.” Sanji admits with a shrug. 

“What?” Zoro cuts in, wide eyed with confusion. 

“Ever since you... since I found out I-I-I've been second... second guessing my decision not to say anything. I think I did the best th-thing but for all I know it would have gone better the other way. I've no way of knowing.” Sanji says honestly. It's been preying on his mind for so long after all, he'd be a liar to say otherwise. 

“You did the right thing, trust me.” Zoro says firmly, holding Sanji's gaze reassuringly. 

“Thanks.” He smiles, a bit of guilt sliding free of his shoulders. 

“I'm sorry. I really am. I was scared, hurt and angry at her but she wasn't here and I took it out on both of you. It wasn't ok.” Usopp says with a guilty sigh. 

“It's cool, it's all behind us. R-right?” Sanji smiles, holding his hand out. Usopp beams and shakes it and Sanji gets the feeling that Usopp is going to be trying to make amends for some time in the future, though it's really not necessary.

“Can I make it up to you?” he asks hopefully.

“You can set the table if you want.” Sanji grins, not ever wanting to refuse non-cooking help in the kitchen. Usopp nods enthusiastically and sprints around to Sanji's side of the counters and begins gathering together cutlery and glasses for the table. 

Sanji smiles softly, everything feels a little better now. He doesn't like it when their house feels tense and uncomfortable like that, having everyone speaking to everyone else again is far better. Besides, Zoro and Usopp look happy together again. He watches them as Zoro does his best to help set the table one handed with Usopp and not really getting a lot done. 

“How about you go tell everyone that dinner is ready Zoro, instead of cluttering the room up?” Sanji snorts. Zoro rolls his eyes and flips him off but heads off out of the room.

“I'll ah... I'll go get the others too, I'll leave you two alone.” Kaya smiles and heads out too. Now it's just Usopp and Sanji in the kitchen slash dining room alone. 

Sanji leans down and pulls the spring rolls out of the oven, he's made loads to compensate for Luffy's habit of gobbling everything up. He wants there to be more than enough for everyone, Sanji likes them cold the next day too so he's made even more than that. He kicks the door of the oven shut with a foot and places the heavy tray of spring rolls onto a wire rack. 

“I still can't really wrap my head around it you know... every time he said he'd been in a bar fight or in a bike accident... that was all her?” Usopp says into the silence of the room. 

Sanji looks around. Usopp is just staring down at the table a little numbly, his hand resting on the surface as if the thought had completely frozen him in place. 

“I don't know about that, you'll... you'll have to ask him.” Sanji answers, the last thing he wants to do is to out Zoro for things he's still not ready to tell. 

“You're right, that's... that's fair.” Usopp agrees. 

The doorbell rings through the large expanse of the house, interrupting their conversation.

“I'll get that.” Sanji says quickly to Usopp, the man has a handful or two of cutlery after all. The singer dusts off his hands on a kitchen towel first and heads to the door. 

“Hey, what are you- ACK!” Zoro's voice comes through the closed hallway door, followed by a loud crash. 

“Baby!” Usopp and Sanji both yell in terrified unison. She's come here, she's come back to finish the job and destroy Zoro. Usopp drops all of the cutlery in his hands as the two of them sprint full pelt towards the door to the hallway. Sanji makes it first, twisting the knob and slamming his shoulder into it, rushing out into the hallway with as much speed as he can physically muster. 

Zoro's slammed against the hallway wall, clearly in pain but... it's not Baby holding him there. Usopp runs into the back of Sanji, the singer's sudden halt too quick for Usopp to deal with. 

“Shit Bonney, I've got a broken arm, don't just-aaaack! Quit squeezing me so tight, I can't breathe!” Zoro rasps out as the pink haired singer bodily lifts Zoro up off of the floor in a bear hug. 

“It was Baby wasn't it?! I should have killed that bitch Zoro! Your goddamn arm!” Bonney wails into Zoro's chest. 

“Bonney put him d-down you-you're gonna br-break him.” Sanji sighs wearily. The adrenaline comedown is almost painful. Bonney gently puts Zoro back on the floor with a gasp of relief from the guitarist himself. 

Bonney instead turns to look at Sanji and her eyes immediately hit on his glued together scalp with a look of horror.

“Bitch got you too?!” Bonney yells in dismay and gathers Sanji up in a bone crushing hug around his middle. He's lifted clean off of the floor and spun around. Sanji can only gasp and wonder how the hell this girl is so strong. Zoro mouths 'sorry' at him and Sanji scowls. 

Bonney eventually stops and drops him to the floor as she peers at his face and tilts his head to the side to see the crack. 

“Y'know Bonney, some people take time to get to know another person before just deciding that they're a friend and you can just pick them up like a ragdoll.” Zoro says airily from behind her.

“Fuck that noise.” Bonney snorts, looking around at Zoro.

“You can't just-” Zoro starts to argue.

“Z-Zoro it's f-fine.” Sanji stammers out, drawing Bonney's attention back to him

“Wait, your voice... you sound like a stuck record, you didn't sound like that before!” Bonney says in a terrified voice, her hand over her mouth in horror. She even backs away a little as if speech impediments are something you can catch, Sanji supposes that as a fellow singer she has every right to fully relate to his level of terror. 

“Yeah, the crash did that.” Zoro says, cutting in to explain for Sanji. 

“Crash?” Bonney questions curiously, looking around at Zoro. 

“She drove her car into Sanji's and hit us, I broke my arm and Sanji cracked his head open.” Zoro elaborates with a sigh. 

“Shit, no wonder the cops are looking for her and Aokiji is talking to Law and I.” Bonney hums, turning towards Zoro and crossing her arms thoughtfully. 

“Aokiji is talking to you two?” Usopp questions in surprise. 

“Who's Aokiji?” Sanji frowns feeling left out and confused as he looks at all of the others who all seem to know what's going on. Zoro rolls his eyes at Sanji as if he just asked an especially stupid question.

“He's the guy who's organising the whole competition.” Nami's voice says from behind them. Sanji looks around to see that Nami, Robin and Kaya have appeared in the hallway. Nami is looking at Bonney with a slightly guarded look, as if the singer would perhaps be here for nefarious purposes. 

“Oh.” Sanji mumbles, feeling a little stupid for not knowing that. Honestly he knew the name of the company that ran the competition but not the names of the people who worked for it. 

“What has Aokiji been to see you about?” Nami asks, leaning into the conversation.

“Well, he said that she's gone missing and the police are after her. I came here to find out what for. He was trying to rearrange things with Law and I so that if she didn't show for the next round you'd still have someone to compete against rather than winning by default.” Bonney answers. 

“I thought they might do that.” Robin hums thoughtfully.

“And what did you say?” Nami presses, walking forward. If what Bonney is saying is right then she's competition again and Nami's wariness is perhaps warranted, especially as Sanji has stupidly opened his mouth around her and revealed that his voice is fucked up. 

Bonney looks around at all of them, her eyes lingering on Sanji and his injured temple. 

“I said I would. If she doesn't show I'm happy to re-do my round, I'd be crazy not to.” Bonney says with an amused tilt of her head. 

“It doesn't matter what you said. She's going to be there.” Zoro says suddenly, he folds his arms as much as he can with one immobile in a cast. He scowls at the floor and the expression twists his face so that the fresh scar running across his eye scrunches into an uneven line. 

“You can't possibly know that.” Nami reasons with a frown. Sanji can't help the flutter of worry in his chest, has Baby been in contact with Zoro and promised him that? Is Zoro keeping things from me. 

“I know that. I know her better than any of you.” Zoro states simply and coldly. 

“Why on earth would she show up though Zoro? Surely the police will be there just in case.” Kaya points out. 

“Because she needs to finish the job?” Usopp ventures, looking terrified for his best friend. 

“This was always going to end up destroying one of us, and unlike her I have something to lose.” Zoro answers, his eyes looking over to Sanji. His face hardens with simmering anger though. 

“I'm going to break her.” Zoro adds, his gaze cold and icy.

Sanji believes him.

 

The song for this time (though incomplete) is @!#?@! by Motion City Soundtrack. The ketchup song is entirely mine however, make sure you don't steal it because I'm totally going to retire on the royalties from that genius word-smithing.


	21. Chapter 21

A winch pulls the car backwards from a hook under its rear bumper. Photographers stand by, snapping shots as the vehicle is wrenched from the lake, inch by inch. Its weight decreases as the water that was trapped inside it sluices out in gaps between the edges of door frames, ventilation and cracked windows. The windscreen at the front of the car is blown in, revealing the draining interior of the vehicle.

The black and red convertible beetle is empty.

Police officers and scene of crime detectives mull around the scene, looking at this and that, the details of which escape Sanji and his non-forensically trained mind.

It's a little crowded on the top of Usopp's van where the whole band is sitting. The van is parked on the edge of the bridge overlooking the lake, from there they have a good view of the police officers working below. Sanji imagines that there was a time when the police could expect a certain amount of privacy in matters such as these, however that was before the days of social media and people as deeply investigative as Robin and Nami. Someone had tweeted about cops pulling a car out of a lake that was near theirs and Baby's homes and within ten minutes they were parked up and watching.

It's her car, no doubt about it but Baby herself is nowhere to be seen.

Sanji doesn't know what he wants to happen here. He sits on the edge of the van's roof and contemplates this as the police inspect the sides of the convertible.

He feels awful at the thought of wishing someone dead and though her crimes are awful Sanji doesn't wish for her to actually have drowned. It isn't to say that he'd lose a lot of sleep over it if she did, but wishing for it is another thing entirely. If she did drive her car into the lake deliberately whilst she was still inside it then was her attack on him and Zoro some kind of murder/suicide plan? Had she hoped that she'd take them out along with her but failed? It's certainly plausible. Plenty of abusers have an 'if I can't have you no one can' mentality and lots of others feel that they're incapable of carrying on without their victim, especially in a relationship like Zoro's and Baby's where there was a romantic attachment too.

Sanji slides a glance Zoro's way. The guitarist is sitting next to him, his eyes glued to the crime scene. The arm that's not in plaster is gripping tightly on the edge of the van's roof. A police officer with short black hair looks up at them for about the tenth time in as many minutes. Her eyes narrow behind her thick rimmed glasses and she turns and walks towards their van. The officer stops, her hands on her hips as she glares up at them.

"I ought to arrest you for being a public nuisance." She threatens as she looks up at them.

"I think that would be far too much paperwork for the effort required. Besides, we're just parked here, nothing wrong with that." Nami reasons smoothly.

"Don't think I don't know why you're here, I know whose car this is and I know you do too." She declares, glaring at Zoro who winces away from looking at her.

"Was... was there anyone in the car? I couldn't see but..." Zoro trails off, his eyes fixed on the vehicle, still searching and still worried.

"You know, I conducted your entire interview and even then you could hardly make eye contact with me, you still won't now. What's your problem?" The officer snaps. Sanji looks at her then, really looks. She's got bobbed black hair and pretty eyes behind her thick glasses, she'd be beautiful in a girl next door kind of way if she wasn't giving Zoro the death glare.

"That's not really an answer to my question." Zoro points out, still not looking at her.

"And you didn't answer mine either. Have you got a problem with female officers?" The woman demands sharply.

"What? No!" Zoro jolts in surprise, looking at her properly. Sanji feels the tremor that goes through Zoro at the extended eye contact with her and it's not long before Zoro wrenches his gaze away again.

"You just... remind me of someone I used to know is all. You look just like her." The guitarist says quietly. Sanji frowns in confusion, who does Zoro mean?

"Oh, go on then. Let's hear it. I look like an ex or something?" the woman snorts derisively.

"No, you look just like his sister. His dead sister." Luffy says bluntly.

Ah. Right then, that would be why Sanji can feel Zoro's discomfort running off of him in waves. Lots of uncomfortable memories there no doubt. Sanji doesn't want to get into that now though, one emotional trauma of Zoro's at a time. Right now the trauma that Sanji wants the answer to is whether Zoro's ex girlfriend is an ex-person as well as an ex-girlfriend. Is she at the bottom of that lake or elsewhere, plotting some devious double murder again?

"Oh, I didn't... sorry." The woman says, apparently somewhat startled by Luffy's answer. Sanji frowns in thought, Zoro's sister was dead before he met any of the band, but he supposes that those amongst them who had known Zoro for longer probably have seen pictures and the like.

"Don't mention it, really." Zoro remarks blankly, his tone of voice suggesting that this is less of a mere reassurance and more a suggested action.

"Was she in the car?" Zoro asks again.

"No. I don't think she's going to be in the lake either. The tyre tracks aren't right for a car being driven and there are footprints between them, like someone was pushing it. Heels first and then barefoot, we found the shoes too. OI CADET, THROW THE SHOES HERE!" The officer roars, leaning over the edge of the bridge. There's a panicked scuffle below and within a few seconds a plastic evidence bag is thrown up.

The officer holds them up towards Zoro. The heels in it are black with slight silver details on, Sanji can't see at this distance but they might be leaves or something?

"They're hers. I bought them for her after a fight we had a few months ago." Zoro says numbly.

"But that means she's alive and somewhere else." Nami says in thought. Sanji can't parse whether she sounds pleased about this or not.

"Did you two have a lot of fights then?" The officer says instead, whipping out a pad of paper and a pen.

"Oh hey, look at the time, we have to go." Zoro says quickly, sliding off of the van and making his way to the back. The rest of them all follow quickly, Zoro clearly isn't keen to explain his situation with Baby to some officer and it seems that the others are respecting that. Good.

"If you ever change your mind about that Zoro, you have my card." The officer calls after them.

When the door to the van is shut and they're driving off down the road it's Robin who breaks the silence first. She's sat on the floor of the van, empty without its instruments, opposite Zoro with her ankles touching his. She nudges him and Zoro looks up slowly.

"So, she drove all the way out here, shoved her car in the water to ditch the evidence and throw people off of her tail. Maybe to weaken the case against her." Robin says, watching Zoro closely.

"Just what we need, less evidence against her. I swear if they don't catch her for this I'm gonna scream." Usopp mutters angrily from the front passenger seat.

"They'll get her Usopp, they have to." Luffy reassures him from the middle van seat at the front. Nami's the one driving and Sanji can't help but notice that she doesn't seem to have as much faith in the authorities as Luffy seems to. He would normally wonder about that but right now Sanji just doesn't have the headspace to manage it.

Sanji leans his head against the warm sheet metal siding of the van, the morning sunlight has warmed it up and it seeps through his hair to his scalp. Baby is missing presumed nefariously scheming and none of them have a clue where she is or what it is she's planning. If she gets away with trying to kill the pair of them Sanji thinks he might do more than just scream.

They've all seen what she's capable of now and in theory Sanji should be happy, more people in the know means that there will be more people watching Zoro.

"It's going to be okay Zoro." Franky assures his friend with a pat on his shoulder.

"Will everyone stop saying that? You sound like a stuck record." Zoro grumbles, banging his head against the wall of the van.

"Hey, knock that off. We don't need two idiots in here with brain trauma." Nami snaps, not taking her eyes off of the road. Zoro glowers in impotent silence and Sanji feels a rumble of unease in his belly. This was part of the reason that Zoro never told anyone, he doesn't like a fuss and the more people there are acting like a mother hen to him the more likely he is to avoid telling them things and to go off the reservation to try to 'deal with' the problem on his own. Sanji's pretty sure that he can hold off until the final competition round but if Baby doesn't get caught and the others feel the need to keep fussing like this then Sanji can see this going badly. There's shit all he can do to make sure she gets caught though is there?

"You're making progress Sanji, I expect you to recover to your normal self." Doctorine says, making a note in Sanji's file.

Sanji rubs his eyes and focuses on not gritting his teeth from stress. He hates running through Doctorine's exercises, he has more mistakes than successes because they're designed to stress him and test him. If he can't manage to speak under stress and pressure then he's not cured is he? He appreciates their role in his therapy and he knows that treatment with Doctorine is a good thing, if he didn't then he wouldn't have gone straight back to her the moment his speech fucked up. But it doesn't mean it's pleasant to do.

"And h-how long do you expect that to... to take?" Sanji asks, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Twice as long as half of it." Doctorine says snippily, shooting Sanji an irritated look.

"I know, you can't... put a time on it but-" Sanji protests. It wasn't exactly what he was asking for but...

"Then why did you ask?" the doctor snaps with a glare.

"Well, what chance do you think I have of being b-better by... tomorrow night? We-we've got a gig." Sanji mutters already knowing the answer. No matter how much he wants it he knows that he's going to let everyone down, his stupid injury and his goddamn speech impediment mean that he's not going to be able to do his job.

The lady doctor looks at him with something almost akin to empathy and sympathy. She rests the medical file on her knees and leans in it to look at him searchingly.

"Did you expect to?" she asks him reasonably.

"Hoped." he replies weakly.

"Full sentences Sanji." Doctorine reprimands him with a scowl, she knows all of his old tricks for trying to get out of stuttering and she never lets him get out away with them.

"I'd kind of hoped it might." Sanji corrects himself.

"I'd say your chances of that are about one in a million. Your band is going to have to find some way to deal without you. As much as I'd like to give you better news Sanji I feel like false hope would be worse for you." the doctor says with a tinge of regret.

"Great, medical conf-con... fuck. Con...fir...ma...tion that I'm shit outta luck. At th-this rate I'm gonna ha-have to quit the band t-to save them." Sanji says morosely. Goodness knows that the band wasn't likely to kick him out for not being able to do his job, not even Usopp would now that he's calmed down. But he can't let them fail on his account, not if there's a real shot at them having to compete with someone, either Baby or Bonney.

Sanji jolts forward as a hand impacts on the back of his head, the slap knocking him forward against the wall of the office. He whirls around in shock, his hand clutching the back of his head as he stares at the angry woman in shock. She stands there, a furious look of wrath on her face. Sanji knows that he's got it coming now.

"Get your head out of your ass, if your friends mean anything to you then have a little goddamn respect for them too. You're hurt is all, if they'd want you to leave then you're better off without them! By offering you're just showing how little you think of them and yourself!" Doctorine snarls at him, her hand raised in preparation for another slap.

"But-" Sanji protests. Doctorine pulls her hand back angrily and shoots him yet another warning look. He wisely falls silent.

"Now get the hell out of my office, I'll see you the day after tomorrow and you'd better still be in that band when I next see you!" She snaps.

"But-" Sanji tries again. Doctorine shoves him out of the office and slams the door so fast that it actually hits Sanji in the ass on his way out. He decides to scarper from her office with his sore butt before she changes her mind and smacks him in the head again, he does still have a head injury after all.

He shoves his hands in his pockets and skulks out of her office. He's wearing a black beanie today to cover up the gash on his head, he decided he'd complete the totally ironic hipster thing with skinny jeans and a too tight t-shirt for his own band. It's a picture from the album that Nami had released for them someway through all of this insanity, it's called Prepare the Preparations and it's got pictures of robots on it that Usopp managed to draw. Apparently he'd felt inspired from his and Franky's stupid robot duet at the wedding. The album itself is a two disc album, one of the disks filled with their new songs.

It takes Sanji forever to wash his hair without soaking the glue or scrubbing at it and he's got to make sure that he doesn't get the glue too wet or else it'll peel off when it shouldn't. As a result Sanji spends a vast amount of his time in the shower with his neck craned back so that he's out of the spray and staring at the ceiling.

"Bad Horse, Bad Horse, Bad Horse, he's bad! He saw the operation you tried to pull today, but your humiliation means he still votes 'neigh' and now assassination is just-"

"'lo?" Sanji groans, having grabbed his phone off of the bedside table. He's sprawled over Zoro's nearly naked body, though thankfully the guitarist's broken arm is over his head and Sanji hasn't squished it in an attempt to get to his phone before the entire Dr. Horrible song plays into Zoro's eardrum. Nonetheless the guitarist looks less than pleased at being woken up at all. Sanji squints at the clock on his bedside table and sees that it's about three in the morning.

"Kid, someone's paid your medical bills before I could." Zeff's voice says into Sanji's ear.

"Wh...why?" Sanji groans, dropping his head to Zoro's chest.

"Why what?" his old man questions him.

"WHY are you calling m-me so shitting early to fucking tell me this you miserable old bastard?" Sanji snarls, dropping onto his back as Zoro sits up and stretches, displacing Sanji onto the mattress.

"You know I balance my cheque book when I can't sleep, I may as well make use of how boring it is, if that can't put me under then nothing will. The point is that I went to settle your account with the hospital and it's already been paid, the name on it is Miss N Mére. Know anything about that?" Zeff explains.

"I don't... Miss N Mére... doesn't ring any bells." Sanji frowns. It seemingly jogs something in Zoro's memory though because the green haired man sits bolt upright and nods vigorously.

"That's Nami's last name." Zoro says, his voice gruff from sleep.

"Oh... apparently it's Nami, our manager." Sanji answers in surprise. Nami hadn't said anything to him about paying his medical costs and... not to cast aspersions against her but Nami wasn't exactly the most charitable type in the world or inclined to just throw money around.

"Great, as long as I don't have to keep funding your ass. You're a grown adult now, not a kid. I don't have to pick up the tab for you." Zeff snorts at him.

"N-no one asked you to you shitty old geezer!" Sanji snarls at him. Zoro rolls his eyes and instead rummages around on the floor looking for something, clearly figuring that this is going to take some time.

"I'd hope not seeing as you're apparently shacked up in bed with your boyfriend, am I invited to the wedding? Am I going to get grandkids?" Zeff cackles down the phone. He probably says something else but Sanji can't hear it because he just screeches and hangs up before hurling the phone across the room at their pile of discarded clothes.

He petulantly drops himself back onto the mattress with his arms crossed in a sulk. It's not like he and Zoro had made a decision to keep physically sleeping together each night it just sort of... keeps happening. Which isn't to say that Sanji minds, not at all. In fact there are few things better than knowing that Zoro is right there with him and that Baby hasn't snuck in during the night to harm him, except perhaps the fact that Zoro is a personal space heater in the shape of someone who may as well be a fucking underwear model. Sanji will neither confirm nor deny whether he spends time running his hands over Zoro's gorgeous abs as he drifts off to sleep. None of that means that he and Zoro are going to get married or anything, even if they did catch that bouquet together that one time...

Sanji is glad that he's just thinking this rather than saying it aloud as he feels that his case is probably being weakened with each additional incriminating word.

"If you're done throwing a temper tantrum you might want to see this." Zoro says flatly. The guitarist turns the laptop towards him with some level of difficulty, without his other arm there to stabilise it the thing slides off of Zoro's knee and into Sanji's thigh.

The singer straightens the computer out and sits up next to Zoro. The webpage that Zoro has opened is their band's website. Pretty much front and centre of the website is a picture of Sanji unconscious in the hospital bed with Zoro hovering anxiously at the open doorway, his arm fresh in plaster. Underneath that runs a message from Nami.

'Available on pay what you can: a limited edition Prepare the Preparations B side disk, containing early drafts of new songs, acoustic versions of Broken Heart and Timelines as well as the live competition edition of Elektra's Complex. Plus one time only offer of 'Anything for You' which was written and played for Usopp's wedding. This offer also comes with a 20 minute video secret candid video documentary of Zoro and Sanji's songwriting process. All proceeds from the sale of this album go to fund the medical bills of Zoro and Sanji after the car crash. Once the funding target has been reached no more copies of this limited run will be produced. - Nami'

Beneath that is a dollar amount counter which reads '$0 remaining'. That answers the question of where the payment for Sanji's medical bills came from.

"Since when...?" Sanji murmurs in awe. He hadn't heard Nami talk about setting this up. He's not sure what he would have said if she'd mentioned it though, would he have told her not to? He's... well... touched beyond belief that she would do this for him, that all of the band would do this for him. He can understand that they would do this for Zoro, hell he would have done this for Zoro in a heartbeat but for someone to do this for him?

"It looks like she set this up last night, I guess it sold out in six hours." Zoro explains, his finger hovering over the time stamp as proof.

Sanji just stares.

Part of the reason that what Usopp said to him in their fight had hurt so bad is because he'd believed it. He had truly believed that he was replaceable to them. Hell, he'd replaced Baby hadn't he? How hard would it be to replace him? In theory it was just a job that required a certain skill level. That was what he'd thought at any rate.

He was wrong though, these people were his friends. They were a family of sorts and it seems that he's not anywhere near as replaceable as he'd thought. Nami had taken it upon herself to pay for getting him fixed up and people had leapt on the chance, their fans had helped out immediately. He could rationalise it that they were just fans of Zoro and the band or that they were just interested in the limited edition merchandise but even to him that sounds a little delusional.

Sanji opens up a new tab and types in the address for twitter. It was signed into his account before so his clever laptop goes right to his personal dashboard. Mentions of him fill the page, people tagging him in tweets wishing him well, promoting the fundraiser and expressing their wishes for his recovery. People are doing the same for Zoro too of course but some are just for him. He has fans. He has friends. He has a family. He's wanted here. Trying to leave the band to save them the hassle of firing him would be doing everyone a disservice, this is where he belongs.

"Shit, if it sold that well then maybe it shouldn't have b... been such a limited edition." Sanji says with some thought. He wonders just how much money they could have made if more of them were for sale.

"Ah, so naïve. You think Nami isn't going to sell extras for extortionate amounts on ebay." Zoro laughs softly, patting Sanji on the top of the head like a dog or a stupid little kid. Sanji snaps the lid of the laptop shut and glares at Zoro. How's he supposed to know what Nami's planning?

"Goddamnit, now I'm awake thanks to that stupid phone call." Zoro grumbles unhappily. Sanji grunts in agreement and curls back under the covers fully intending on getting to sleep again.

"Maybe I should just get up..." Zoro says thoughtfully, as if Sanji intends on doing so with him. If he does think that then he's sadly mistaken, it'll take a lot to get Sanji up at this time in the morning. To indicate how very unlikely Sanji is to join him he just grunts at Zoro.

They've got their show tonight and they're going to have to get up in a few hours anyway in order to get there in time, it's almost a day's drive in the other direction to the Okama way. The plan had been for everyone to get up at seven and get to driving almost immediately. He's going to grab as much sleep as he can before they have to leave, so like hell he's going to stay awake just because Zoro's feeling alert now.

"Hey Sanji..." Zoro says quietly in the dark. Sanji grunts in response from under the covers, perhaps soon Zoro will get the hint.

"You've slept with guys before me right? How many?" Zoro asks.

Well shit, now Sanij is wide awake.

"Why?" Sanji asks instead. He's really not in the mood for Zoro to judge him based on how long his list of sexual partners is. Zoro's list is short just because he's been with Baby since he was barely a teen and since then only him. It's just circumstance, not any kind of moral position.

"You just have more experience with this is all." Zoro shrugs innocently, though Sanji can see quite clearly that he's got more on his mind that he's not saying.

"Get to the point moss-head." Sanji snaps.

"Keep your panties on cook." Zoro shoots back. Sanji doesn't need to formulate a response to that, just growling at Zoro will do the job. Oh goddamnit, the primitive idiot is rubbing off on him.

"I was just asking if... well... if it's the same with everyone you sleep with." the guitarist asks, his head tilting with curiosity painted to look so innocent that Sanji just doesn't believe it for a second.

"What does th-that mean?" He asks lowly, this conversation is not turning out well.

"When you sleep with other guys are you always the g-" Zoro starts but Sanji claps his hand over Zoro's mouth before he can finish that sentence.

"I s-swear if th-the next... next word out of your m-m-m- fuck. If the next th- argh! Shit!" Sanji snarls. He clasps his hands in his hair in frustration and resists the urge to punch the wall. He tries to speak again but he feels every letter of every word jam up in his throat, the pointed ends of them jabbing him sharply from his adam's apple to his tongue. They snare together and even if Sanji was to force them out they'd only come out in an incorrect mish-mash.

He curls forward, his breath coming sharply through his teeth. He swallows the words and tries to focus on what he wants to say. He knows what Zoro was going to say, Zoro was going to ask him if he was always the girl. Is that all he is to Zoro? A girl? Sanji is many things but a girl is not one of them, he's not like them. Women are soft and delicate and Sanji is not. He can't believe that Zoro sees him like that, he wants Zoro to see him as his equal, not as his pseudo girlfriend who just happens to have guy parts. He doesn't want Zoro to think of him as a girl because he doesn't like the implication that Zoro replaced his girlfriend with him.

He draws a breath and tries again but his throat chokes up and panic rises in Sanji's system as a hot flush on his neck. His face reddens in mortification that Zoro has to see this. He'd been doing so well. He feels Zoro's lip press against his naked shoulder and a warm hand curls around Sanji's midsection.

"Take your time Sanji, it's fine." Zoro breathes warmly against his skin. Sanji resents the wave of love that rises in him. Zoro isn't allowed to be so sweet after starting to say something so cruel.

Sanji tries to hurl the accusation at Zoro but all that comes out are choked syllables. His heart is racing and it feels a little like the room is starting to spin, he's beginning to panic.

Zoro moves swiftly, pulling him back onto the bed and moving over him. Zoro supports himself on his one good arm and the rough scratchy cast rubs up uncomfortably on Sanji's bare stomach. Zoro shushes him quietly and kisses Sanji's throat.

"Take your time, it's ok." Zoro promises him gently, his lips moving against Sanji's clavicle as he dusts kisses there. Despite himself Sanji sighs and relaxes a little. He wants to forget what Zoro was saying and let this play out. He'd give anything to feel like how Zoro views him, he wants the guitarist to make him forget how he feels, to pull him apart and distract him from his glaring flaws. Sanji can't ignore that this conversation needs to be had though, that this needs to be said, no matter what he wants.

"I'm. Not. A-a-a. A girl." Sanji grits out, forcing out one word at a time. He sounds like a stupid robot but it gets the job done.

"I had noticed." Zoro smirks and rolls his hips against Sanji, rubbing a hardness against Sanji that could be either a reaction to waking up or something more interesting.

"N-no, don't distr-dis- dis-tract me." Sanji argues, pushing Zoro back onto his haunches as Sanji sits up.

"You were gon-gonna say that." He accuses. Zoro blinks at him in the dark and cocks a curious eyebrow.

"Well yeah, I was trying to have a conversation about that. I'm not saying you are an actual girl, I just meant that you're the girl when we-" Zoro starts but Sanji has heard more than enough.

"FUCK OFF!" He spits and shoves Zoro off of him roughly.

"You th-think that I-I-I'm less than you just because you're the shitty bastard who t-tops?!" He accuses, leaping out of bed. He can't afford for Zoro to distract him again with kisses, besides, he's too hurt for that right now.

Zoro doesn't really react though, he just tilts his head at Sanji like he's some kind of fucking owl and when he speaks his voice is calm.

"You've got problems if that's what being a girl means to you. Women are no different to men, they're not 'less' as you put it. We're gonna have a problem if that's what you think about women." Zoro says, his voice calm but belying an underlying tone of threat.

"You're the one with a shitty problem, fucker. You thin-think I'm a girl cause you're th-the one who fucks me and not the other way around." He accuses vehemently. He can't believe that they're having to have this argument. He loves Zoro and they've been through so much, are they really going break up because Zoro thinks something so stupid as this?

"God your masculinity must be fucking fragile. That's not what I meant at all. I don't know all of the proper words if that's what this is about. This is all new to me, remember? I'm not saying you're actually a girl or that I think you're 'less of a man' for 'getting fucked' as you put it." Zoro groans in exasperation, his good hand rubbing his forehead as if there's considerable tension there.

"Then what?" Sanji demands with a hiss.

"I just wanted to know if it was always that way around for you or if you were ok with switching sometimes. Seeing as my arm's busted for now it might be a little smoother if we swapped. That's all I was saying so get your head out of your ass and stop reading into things I'm not even saying." Zoro explains with a huff.

All of the wind goes out of Sanji's sails and he visibly slumps as the realisation of what Zoro was trying, however tactlessly, to say hits him finally.

"Oh." he manages.

Zoro doesn't say anything, just watches him with an 'I'm waiting' expression on his face.

"Sorry." Sanji mumbles and sits back down on the edge of the bed.

"I don't usually care who tops, I'm perfectly happy with both. Just with you I thought it'd b-be easier if you topped so that it was more familiar for you. I-I know it was a big change so..." He mumbles in explanation.

"So you thought it'd be easier for me if you acted like the girl here then huh? Seems like you're the one with all these issues about this shit. I don't care, you're the one who does." Zoro points out, jabbing Sanji in the side. Zoro's words hurt because, well, as stubborn as Sanji is even he can see that Zoro kind of has a point. A tactless stupidly worded point but a point nonetheless.

"So... you wanted to switch... really?" Sanji asks quietly.

"Yeah, though I didn't expect you to pitch a shit fit when I brought the whole thing up." The guitarist grouses, shooting a perhaps well deserved glare at Sanji. He feels more than a little embarrassed about this whole thing now.

"I said I was sorry." Sanji pouts, though he still does feel bad.

"Yeah, I know." Zoro smirks teasingly. Sanji whaps him in the bare chest with his arm, smug asshole.

"But... yeah, sure. I'm more th-than happy to top if that's what you w-want." Sanji says, finally giving Zoro the answer that he had been seeking throughout this whole cringeworthy conversation.

"Excellent." Zoro purrs and leans into Sanji's side. Zoro's bare chest brushes Sanji's arm and Zoro leans in to press a kiss at the corner of Sanji's jaw. The singer feels himself redden considerably.

"You mean now?!" Sanji squawks in shock.

Zoro grins against Sanji's skin, he can feel the slight scrape of Zoro's incisors along his neck and despite himself he shudders.

"I'd never want to pressure you." Zoro murmurs into Sanji's ear before biting the lobe. That causes a full on shudder this time. Sanji feels his skin begin to tingle pleasantly and his heart rate pick up a little. It's still kind of dark in his room so he can't quite tell where Zoro is going to go next, apparently something in him likes that a little.

"I-I-I d-didn't say that." Sanji gasps, his words getting stuck in his throat as his brainpower starts getting redirected away from unfucking his speech and instead into cataloguing every move Zoro's lips make on his skin.

"Well, you know. It's late, or early, or whatever. You're in bed, I'm in bed. I'm not wearing much and neither are you. I'm just saying." Zoro says with faux innocence as he bites Sanji's collar bone.

Zoro is restricted with his ability to touch Sanji, at the angle he's at he's got to use one of his arms to support him if he wants to still kiss Sanji. As such he's just kissing and nipping his way along Sanji's jaw, neck and chest, it's kind of more intimate in a way.

"That's got to be... be the laziest r-r-re-reas- shit. The laziest excuse for sex ever." Sanji grumbles, rerouting his sentence around his accusation. Not that he really means it or minds as such, though he minds the stupid stutter getting in the way of his playful banter with Zoro.

"Is that a no?" Zoro questions, pulling back and looking at Sanji with dark eyes.

Sanji has a moment of quandary, as pretty much all of twitter knows by now he's hardly quiet in bed. Surreptitious early morning sex is not something they're likely to get away with. But there's something unnameable and appealing in the lean stretch of Zoro's body as he leans back to get a better look at Sanji, something in the gleam of his eyes and the set of his thin but oh-so kissable lips that makes Sanji want to- okay so it's not something unknown. It's blatantly Sanji's libido and the fact that Zoro is so fucking hot and yet still somehow all Sanji's. That's what's weakening Sanji's sensible arguments against sleeping with him.

Sanji bites his lip before deciding that's a bad idea and leans in and bites Zoro's instead. Zoro groans and falls back on the mattress, pulling Sanji with him.

Zoro's on his back, spread out underneath Sanji with his broken arm bent in it's cast above his head. Zoro shifts and moves his other arm up to join it, his wrists just touching on either side of the cast, almost as if Sanji's got him tied up there. That though alone is more than enough to wake up any parts of Sanji's sex drive that weren't totally on board with this already.

Zoro's muscles are pliable with the recently fled sleep and so he arches with perfect suppleness as Sanji runs his hand underneath Zoro in the arch in his spine. Sanji splays both hands on Zoro's ribs and pushes them up to his pectorals, stroking along smooth tan skin. Zoro sighs deliciously and tips his head to the side a little, watching Sanji through the eye with the scarred lid. That thought makes Sanji pause, lean up and kiss the healed cut. He can't undo what Baby's done and he would be stupid to think that he is therapy for Zoro, but the least he can do is to treat Zoro to things that will become good memories.

He catches Zoro's mouth in a slow lazy kiss. Both of their mouths taste a little bitter from sleep but Sanji doesn't care and when he pulls back somewhat and their panted breaths mingle all he can think of is how lucky he is to have Zoro with him, so he kisses him again.

Sanji slides under the bedcovers, his longer hair pushed forward with the movement. He presses a slow and delicate kiss to the skin just underneath Zoro's navel. Zoro's wearing boxers and Sanji pauses as his fingers curl under the waist band, his gaze flicks up to Zoro's face but he doesn't even need to ask the other man if he wants this, Zoro's face is so unbearably eager that it must outpace even Sanji's own.

He slides Zoro's boxers down, being gentle as he goes over where Zoro is hard, the tip of his dick catching slightly in the band as he does so. Sanji gets the clothing down to Zoro's knees and abandons it, figuring that Zoro can kick it off himself if he wants. Besides, Sanji's got more important things on his mind. He kisses the smooth underside of Zoro's shaft in apology for catching him slightly when he stripped him and also because he really wants to. He can't get enough of the smell of Zoro's skin there, it sounds a little creepy but there it is. He chances a lick of Zoro and is pleased to hear the happy sigh from the other man's lips.

Sanji lets his hand get to work on Zoro as the rest of him slides back up. He feels a little mean so he decides to see if Zoro can multitask being slowly jerked off and kissing Sanji back. At first he can but before too long he's doing more panting into Sanji's mouth than he is kissing.

Sanji considers reaching into his bedside table for the lube to start preparing Zoro with, but he can't help but pause and notice that Zoro's being awfully passive. This isn't to say that Zoro's frozen up or anything, he's not gone silent by any means, Zoro's breathing fractured sentences of encouragement to Sanji. Sanji doesn't doubt that Zoro is into what they're doing at all, but still in his head he's got a niggling doubt that Zoro is perhaps uncertain about switching places with him.

Sanji frowns and grabs the lube anyway, reassured by the fact that Zoro takes advantage of Sanji's compromised position to grab a solid handful of Sanji's ass and squeezes hard. Sanji knows a few things about sex and now he's starting to learn a few things about relationships, namely that he shouldn't jump the gun and try to mind-read Zoro or leap to conclusions with him. Listening to Zoro is kind of part of the deal at this point, especially in bed.

If Zoro were to say no and Sanji ignored it that would be a shitty thing to do, well, actually it would make him a rapist which is beyond the boundaries of merely shitty. Sanji would never do that. However ignoring Zoro's yes on the grounds that he's not certain Zoro really means it, well... that's got to be a little shitty as well right? Obviously he's going to make sure Zoro's still ok about the whole thing the whole way through but it'd be mean and patronising to refuse Zoro just on the grounds that he doesn't trust Zoro to know his own mind. If Zoro says he wants to switch it up, then he wants to switch it up.

"This is pr-prob-pr fuck. Might feel a little weird." Sanji correct himself, smearing lube between the pads of his ring finger and thumb.

"You didn't seem to mind ever." Zoro grins lecherously at him, leaning up slightly off kilter on his good arm. Sanji just rolls his eyes and gets to it.

Hm. Zoro's grin might say cockily confident and his overt body language agrees but down there at least Zoro is so tight that Sanji wouldn't have a hope of getting a finger in if he tried. He decides to just do what he got done to him on his first time, smear pretty much everything with lube and just rub on the outside whilst distracting him with kisses. They're certainly going to need to change the bedsheets after this, unless sticky with lube is a new style of laundry that they're going for. Sanji can't quite care though. He kisses Zoro's hipbones and runs his tongue along taut skin there, he noses into Zoro's hair and kisses the slight crease of his thigh. Zoro's body relaxes enough to let Sanji in ever so slightly. Sanji doesn't push it though, so to speak, he's got all the time in the world for this and the slower he obviously intends takes it the quicker Zoro seems to relax into the whole thing.

"OH!" Zoro exclaims, his whole body jolting when Sanji first gets a finger inside all in one go. He hadn't meant to go in that fast, he'd just applied a little pressure and Zoro's body seemed to drag him in the rest of the way until the knuckles on his other fingers stopped the movement.

"Shit, sorry." Sanji hisses regretfully.

"No... no. It just... 's weird is all." Zoro breathes in the dark and after a few moments the vice like contraction around Sanji's finger eases and he can move his hand again. He crooks his finger gently and starts to move in a pull me-push you give and take.

"A good strange or...?" Sanji asks, biting the inside of Zoro's thigh gently.

"Yeah, still weird but... yeah, keep going." Zoro agrees. True to his word Zoro is still hard and stays that way with each finger that Sanji adds. By the time he's on three and rippling his fingers in a wave Zoro's good hand is scratching at the bed sheet as his body trembles in all the right ways, his breath coming in short puffs.

"You wanna keep going?" Sanji asks, his voice thankfully steady.

"Y-yeah, anything. Just more of... oh." Zoro pants, his voice shaky and stammering instead of Sanji's. His skin is flushed and perfect and there is nothing more that Sanji wants than to see him like this more often.

Sanji rolls on a condom and rubs some lube on himself and then adds more to the fingers that he's using on Zoro just for the heck of it, you can never have too much lube. After he's done with that he realises that he's going to have to take his fingers from Zoro at some point if he's wanting to actually have sex with him any time soon. It's going to be hard to do though, Zoro seems to be enjoying it quite a lot.

Reluctantly Sanji slides his fingers out but the way Zoro's hips buck and a little needy whine escapes Zoro's throat makes Sanji's heart break a little but it just makes him more determined to make this whole experience even more amazing for Zoro.

"Okay, I'm gonna go slow ok? If you want me to stop then just... just say." Sanji breathes soothingly against Zoro's skin. Zoro nods breathlessly in agreement, his fingers tight on Sanji's bicep and softly tugging him forwards as if that'll make him start before he's ready. Zoro's other hand is still spread above his head with Zoro's head pressed into the crook of his plastered elbow.

Sanji lines himself up ready and checks Zoro's expression. The guitarist is looking a touch nervous but Sanji knows there's eagerness there too from the way that Zoro is tugging him forward and the way his hips shuffle down to meet Sanji more than halfway.

Sanji breathes out a puff of air and steels himself, he needs to keep quiet and he needs to keep control on things here for Zoro's sake and for his own. Zoro starts to let him in easily and lube slick heat surrounds him instantly. All of Sanji's urges, millions of years of evolution, hiss their pleasure and encouragement in his ear. He shoves it all down though, he moves glacially slowly and pauses when Zoro's eyes scrunch shut and a little wrinkle appears on the bridge of his nose in a grimace. Sanji digs his fingers into the bedsheets, orders his hips to stay still and trembles.

"Zoro?" Sanji says in a voice that is more moan than question.

"Just- just get on with it." Zoro grits out, his teeth clenched around the words and his eyes shut tight.

"N-not exactly the enthusiastic consent that I was l-looking for." he points out, it feels far easier now to hold back. If Zoro has really changed his mind then he needs to stop this now-

Zoro hooks his heel around Sanji's hip and yanks him in closer until he's fully inside of Zoro with his hips flush against Zoro's ass. Sanji squeaks in surprise and overstimulation and simply freezes. Whilst he's like that Zoro grinds his hips against Sanji again and jerks on Sanji's arm, that's as clear a signal to move it as Sanji's probably going to get right now. Still, despite Zoro's idiocy he's going to take this slow. He backs off a little and gently rolls his hips forward, he repeats it, setting a slow and steady pattern to follow.

"Yessss." Zoro hisses, tilting his head back with a grin pulling his mouth alarmingly wide.

"Oh... Zoro, Zoro, Zoro..." Sanji breathes into Zoro's bare chest. Zoro's not passive now, he's pushing back with his hips just as much as Sanji's pushing forward. Before too long they're colliding in an almost bone jarring slam of sweat damp skin and need.

Zoro pulls at Sanji's hair and drags him into a kiss that Sanji has to shove Zoro's legs into his chest to achieve. The intensity of the kiss, though it was more a clash of teeth and tongue, paired with the change in angle makes Sanji start to babble. He's not sure exactly what he's saying, between the stutter that keeps tripping him up mid word or phrase and the moaning it's all pretty unclear. It's more as if he hears it himself than he is conscious of saying any of it. It's Zoro's name over and over again, declarations of love, praise for how perfect he is, how good he feels, questions as to how it feels for Zoro. An endless stream of speech and passion that Sanji couldn't stop if his life depended on it.

It's Zoro who yells first actually. Something in the angle changes and this... sound... rips from Zoro's throat. It's surprise and pleasure that's hit so hard it seems like it's almost walking the line of pain. Sanji knows that feeling, he's had it with Zoro when it's all getting too much, when Zoro was inside of him instead and it felt like he was breaking his mind from the inside out. When it felt like Zoro was getting into every crack of his skin and every pore and that he might just explode into a thousand bits from the sheer joy of it. Yeah, he knows that feeling. After that it all goes past in a blur and before too long he and Zoro are slumped against each other, hot, sticky and panting in each other's air.

Breakfast is suitably awkward for Sanji, though Zoro seems entirely shameless. It's just not fair. Sanji's sitting there with a face as red as the fried tomatoes he'd made for everyone whilst Zoro is eating without a care in the world. Franky even comes in at one point and looks at Zoro for a few seconds before aiming double finger pistols at him, clicking and letting out a long and loud 'eyyyy!'. The two of them even share a goddamn high five!

"I need to invest in some earplugs, Sanji you're paying." Nami eventually says, shooting him an admittedly weak glare. Sanji doesn't think she really means it but, well, her room is right below theirs. Uh, below his even. Shit, when did he start thinking of his own room as 'their' room?

"Of course N-N-N-Nami." He stammers out.

"Okay everyone, the final round tonight is at Shakky's rip off bar." Nami says and feeds herself a spoonful of granola. She crunches it loudly and looks around at the others. Luffy and Usopp are practically vibrating with energy at the mere mention of it but Sanji can pick out a dark tinge to their excitement and Sanji'd bet the whole contents of his wallet that they're not just excited about the gig, they're excited about the prospect of getting to settle the score with Baby. Sanji can't say that he's especially averse to the idea himself, not that he thinks he'll be able to do anything personally, but he's more than happy to watch Robin and Nami rip her apart.

Right now though, he has bigger problems.

Despite his therapy with Doctorine Sanji's speech is still not right, his singing voice is still fine on a technical level but there is the problem of his inability to reliably keep it going. It gets worse when he's under stress and though he's not a huge sufferer of stage fright he has to admit that the idea of getting up on stage knowing full well that he might choke terrifies him. The fact that it terrifies him means that he'll be stressed which means that it's almost certain to happen. Despite his pride and his will to do this regardless he needs to admit something.

"I-I-I... I can't sing tonight. I j-j-just can-ca fuck. I can't do it." He chokes out. He clasps his hands together on the table and waits for the axe to fall.

"Sanji... not to sound callous but... duh." Nami says quietly. Sanji's head whips up and he stares at her.

"Yeah, are you stupid or something Sanji? You were literally having brain surgery last weekend, you're lucky you're as fine as you are, no one expected you to get up on stage today." Franky says with a frown.

"I'm sure there's a joke about your skull in there somewhere, but we really hadn't planned that you were going to sing. Usopp is more than capable of covering any piano parts that I might have and Franky has been refreshing my knowledge of bass guitars this week, though I must admit I prefer regular guitar." Brook beams.

"And Franky covers my parts." Zoro chips in and stuffs an entire slice of toast in his mouth before Luffy can snatch it out of the toast rack. The drummer growls at him and grabs the remaining two slices and stuffs them in endways in his mouth out of spite. Everyone but Usopp ignores him choking.

"And you're...?" Sanji asks, looking at Zoro.

"Singing, duh." Zoro answers through a mouthful of toast. A partially chewed chunk of toast lands on the breakfast table and Sanji glares at it. He squeezes his eyes shut and reminds himself very fervently that he loves Zoro and that Zoro is very good in bed and no one can be perfect. Atrocious table manners just has to be Zoro's flaw. Well that and the totally missing sense of direction. Oh, and the fact that he snores. And the way he clomps about in those big boots instead of just taking them off at the door like a normal fucking- ok, this isn't helping.

"You didn't tell me." He accuses, opening his eyes again and glaring at Zoro.

"Well yeah. I laid down next to you last night and I didn't see the light shining from one ear through to the other so I assumed you had something between them. Of course I'd be singing with you out of action, I'm hardly gonna be playing the guitar up there am I?" Zoro snorts. In the background Luffy chokes up his toast and continues chewing it, Sanji lives with animals he swears.

"You let me fucking worry about it and didn't tell me that you had a convenient plan so that I didn't need to stress about it. I oughta stab you with this spoon!" Sanji snarls, waving the threatening cutlery in Zoro's face.

"You say the sweetest things honey bun." Zoro responds with a grin and reaches over to pinch Sanji's cheek. Sanji takes the opportunity to jab Zoro in the ribs with the spoon and Zoro responds by smacking Sanji in the back of his head.

"Oh my god you are such an ASSHOLE!" Sanji yells, shoving Zoro in the shoulder.

"Yeah? Well you're a brain scrambled moron with a curly eyebrow!" Zoro snaps back, smacking Sanji in the leg. The whole situation quickly devolves into a one armed slap fight with insults being hurled on both sides.

"Hey, you notice how Sanji doesn't stutter when he's bickering with Zoro?" Robin muses with a smile on her face.

"The power of true love, so sweet. Anyway, on a less gag-worthy topic we need to agree on the songs that we're going to be playing tonight. We need something that will put Baby in her place." Nami says across the table, freezing Zoro and Sanji's slap fight.

Sanji watches with interests as the band members who play instruments all look at Zoro at once. Zoro for his part simply straightens up in his seat and looks Nami dead in the eye.

"I got it." Zoro answers stiffly, staring Nami down.

"What do you mean you've 'got it'? What's that supposed to mean?" Nami asks, looking startled.

Zoro doesn't answer her though and instead stands up from the table, and pushes his chair back under it after him.

"We gotta pack the bus. I'll get started." Zoro says instead.

"Zoro, hey ZORO! ANSWER ME!" Nami yells, getting to her feet but Zoro ignores her and walks off.

"I'm uh... I'm gonna help him!" Usopp squeaks as Nami's laser like gaze falls on him. Usopp slides from the table like an eel and slithers away. With him gone Nami's interrogative eyes move to Sanji, but Sanji has no idea what Zoro is planning either. Whatever it is Zoro has declined to share it with him.

"I really h-hope he's not gonna do anything stu-stupid." Sanji says softly.

"That'd be a first." Robin snorts with a roll of her eyes.

Zoro says nothing about his plan all day. Not at lunch. Not at dinner. Not when they set off in the bus for the bar, nothing. The only thing that Zoro says to him is to make Sanji promise not to leave his side, not for anything. That's not a hard promise to agree to, he doesn't want Zoro out of his sight and near Baby at all.

The ride to Shakky's rip off bar is intense, everyone is on the edge of their seats and Sanji is so restless that he can't manage to sit still and spends the whole time wandering around the bus. He gets the distinct feeling every time that he walks into a section of the bus with other people in that they've just stopped talking about him. He's too mentally preoccupied to be paranoid though, he can't help but play how he thinks the night is going to go out in his head. What's going to happen when they get there? Will she show up like Zoro said she would and if she does what will she do? Is she going to show up to finish the job like a Saturday morning cartoon villain?

Shakky's bar looks pretty low key from the outside, it's only the posters advertising the competition concert and the long line of people outside that would tip a viewer off to the fact that it's not a quiet bar. They pull the bus around the back and see Bonney's offensively pink monster truck parked in the car park already. Some of her other band mates are unloading the last of their gear from the back of it.

"Okay, stick with one of us at all times. You got it?" Zoro says, catching Sanji by the arm as he climbs off of the bus into the car park.

"You too idiot, you're the one who's got a br-broken arm." Sanji points out with a glare. He doesn't like Zoro babying him like this, but he's pretty concerned about Zoro too so he supposes that he gets it, sort of. He shrugs and enters the venue with Zoro following close behind, his concern radiating off of him like heat.

The inside of Shakky's Rip Off Bar looks different to how Sanji remembers it from when he is a kid. The place is dimmed and smoky with lighting coming from old ornate lampshades on the wall and very little from the roof itself, it gives the place a cosy feel even as it's almost empty. The walls are wood panelled with oak and there are booths at the back of the bar made from huge oak casks which once held alcohol, inside those are benches and tables for private conversations. During usual business hours the main parts of the room are filled with small tables and tall chairs, the furniture all fashionably antique and mismatched. It's a place that you'd come to hear a small band play, or a guy just starting out on an open mic night. You could listen to them with one ear and have a soft spoken conversation with someone close at the same time. It'd be a great place for a date.

Right now though most of the small tables and chairs are either stored away or pushed off to the sides, leaving the red terracotta tiled floor open with plenty of room for people to stand in. What usually functions as a high level seating area, splitting the floor up onto two levels, has now been revealed to be a second stage. The two wooden stages face each other from opposite sides of the main section of the bar. With this set up Shakky's Rip Off Bar looks like the music venue that it really is.

Shakky herself is standing off to the side of the room, perched on the edge of a stage like an elegant bird. She's dressed all in shimmering black, wearing a dress that appears to be backless but is in fact sparkly sheer with a detailed spider design in something glittering and black. It creeps Sanji out a little, creepy crawlies have never been his thing and he can't see why anyone would want to have them on their clothes. Between her sharply defined lips is a long black cigarette holder with a cigarette burning in the end.

"Fashionably late as always, Sanji." Shakky breathes, a lazy curl of smoke floating up to the ceiling with her words.

"S-sorry Shakky." Sanji apologises in embarrassment. She had been a childhood crush of his as Zeff frequently reminds him with unrestrained glee. It's easy to see why he was so enamoured with her back then, she's the picture of a classy lady with her curvy but slim figure and generous bust. She's got a wicked sharp sense of humour but a motherly smile and a way of speaking that always made Sanji feel like she loved him. In fairness it was probably more of a longing for a mother figure than it was a true crush, though it was a little odd mix of the two in truth, young hormones are weird things.

"Well, now that you're here I can discuss the plans for this evening. Recent events have rather changed what we had planned, wouldn't you say?" Shakky smiles at them, beckoning the others in. The rest of the band come into the room and move with Sanji to the main area of the room. There they can see the other members of Law and Bonney's band piling their equipment into the proper places. As their manager Nami steps to the head of the group with Luffy just behind her, picking his nose.

"With Baby's recent disappearance and the... dubious circumstances surrounding it..." Shakky begins, her eyes roaming over Zoro's cast and the gash on Sanji's head.

"You mean her fleeing from the cops after trying to kill these two." Bonney snorts in an unladylike fashion as she kicks one foot up onto the edge of the stage by her butt and puffs out her cheeks in childish distaste. Her whole posture and manner is... well... about as far from ladylike as Sanji has ever seen, he likes her but he can't escape the feeling that she could well be Luffy in a wig with fake boobs. Their mannerisms, or rather lack of manners, are just so similar. Still, that's a terrible thing to think about a lady and inside he feels awful for even having the thought it.

To Sanji's surprise Shakky doesn't seem startled by this accusation at all, it's as if she knew everything already. She simply continues speaking as if Bonney hadn't interrupted at all.

"We've made alternative arrangements with the competition. The rest of Baby's band is out in one of the back rooms but they haven't seen her and didn't particularly want to interact with the rest of you, for reasons that I'm sure escape me. However if the woman herself does not show up by 8pm sharp then Bonney will take the stage that she's sitting on and Law will take the other. The winner of that bout will then play a celebratory song and go on to face the Strawhats here and then a winner will be declared. This will lead to a slightly reduced victory set for whomever wins that last round but we'll have to manage." Shakky explains looking to all of them for confirmation that they agree with this plan.

"If the police are after her I can't imagine she'll show up. That'd be stupid." Law says flatly, his frown evident.

"She'll show. When she does we need to call the cops and keep her here long enough for them to get here, let her play her set and us play ours." Nami says firmly. She pulls out her phone as if to demonstrate that she'll be the one calling.

"You think she'll be stupid enough to stick around and just play a set, surely she'd assume you'd do just that? Unless you're planning on catching her as soon as she arrives and calling the police before she knows you've seen her." Shakky says with a curious little frown.

"Nah, she's going to want to stick around even if she sees us, Zoro's going to make sure of that just as long as he gets up on the stage." Luffy assures her with complete confidence.

"W-what? What's that su-supposed to mean?" Sanji asks feeling anxiety hit him from behind like a wave. He turns to see Zoro looking grimly determined and that scares him. It scares him that Zoro is planning something to do with Baby without telling him. If Zoro's decided not to tell him it's either because it's something that he knows that Sanji isn't going to approve of and is going to do anyway or because he thinks that letting him in on this plan is going to endanger him as well, which means that his plan is dangerous. Sanji does not like either of these options.

"What's with your voice Sanji?" Law asks curiously, his dark rimmed eyes narrowing in suspicion. Sanji's jaw slams shut so fast that the click of it echoes around the room. The last thing that he wants to do is to out his current speech difficulties to every bastard and his brother.

"Uhm, miss Shakky, could you show me where your sound booth is so that I can get the microphone set up?" Chopper pipes up from behind Robin's leg.

"Sure, but it'll cost you." Shakky teases him.

"Wha?!" Chopper squeaks.

Sanji turns and heads back out the door that they came in through, they need to get the rest of their stuff out of the bus and if he can't sing today he might as well be helpful in some way. He gets to the side of the bus and pulls open the sliding hatch. Inside is Franky's guitar in its hard case and Brook's borrowed bass.

Clear footsteps ring out on the concrete behind Sanji, freezing him to the spot. His heart leaps into his throat and Sanji can feel his breathing halt. Everything speeds up and he whirls around to face the person sneaking up on him. He comes face to face with a mildly surprised looking Zoro. Not Baby. Sanji breathes out and leans against the side of the bus in what he hopes comes off as casual and not in a "nearly had a heart attack" style.

"Jumpy?" Zoro asks, raising a sharp eyebrow.

"Shut it." Sanji mutters and yanks the guitars free before stalking inside the club.

Regrettably unloading the van doesn't take all that long at all and before too long Sanji is out of things to do. He has no instrument to tune, he doesn't need to warm up his voice, nothing. If he tries to help out Chopper with setting things up he'll only get in the way. He knows that he's radiating nervous energy so he doesn't want to stick around the actually useful band members and psych them out. He knows that Zoro said stuff about not being on his own but Shakky is behind the bar and that counts, right?

With nothing better to do Sanji takes to his usual poor decision behaviour and heads to the bar to start drinking. Within a few seconds of looking at the board behind the bar he can see why the place is called Shakky's Rip Off Bar. He goes for his bad decision drink of choice and orders tequila, he may as well go all in with this. Perhaps getting a little buzzed will take the edge off of waiting to see if a psychopath will show up for him and his boyfriend as well as wondering about whatever mysterious plan Zoro has.

The bar fills up more and more as Shakky's staff let the waiting crowd in as one long stream, after that the bar fills up more slowly as stragglers come along to the door and get their tickets checked. Sanji downs his first shot and the second right after it before he senses the presence at his side that makes him jump again. Yet again though when he turns to look it's Nami standing next to him and not Baby. He wonders how long this is going to go on and whether or not he really should look up a psychologist or something, he could have some sort of post-traumatic-something.

"Should you be drinking so soon after a head injury like that?" Nami asks him, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Uhhh..." Sanji says uncertainly, looking at Nami.

"Should is such a strong w-word..." he hedges. Nami scowls and plucks his drink out of his hand and downs it herself.

"Don't be selfish and get drunk just because you feel sorry for yourself for not being up on that stage today." Nami says firmly, placing the empty shot glass on the bar top and giving him a stern look.

"I-I feel useless n-not being... not doing anything." He explains. He gestures across the room to where Zoro is leaning into a microphone next to Chopper to get everything calibrated for his voice. Next to him Franky is tuning up his guitar and testing it quietly into headphones wrapped around his head and settled on one ear. They're all buzzing with activity and usefulness, unlike him.

"Useless like Robin and me?" Nami challenges, settling herself on the barstool next to Sanji. The singer jerks in shock at the realisation of what he's just implied. The last thing that he thinks is that Nami or Robin are useless to their band! Some might think that but they're a family together, they're all needed as a whole to make the band regardless of who is holding the instruments. He tries to stammer an explanation out, something to apologise for letting someone so dear to him think that he believes something so awful and so untrue, but nothing sensible comes out of his mouth. All he can manage is startled spluttered letters and phonemes.

"Yeah, I thought not. So maybe don't be so hard on yourself. Besides, the last thing you want is to be impaired when Baby shows up. You're not supposed to be on your own either, don't think we didn't hear Zoro asking you not to be." Nami says with a slow catlike smile spreading across her perfect feminine face.

"'s not the boss 'f me." Sanji mutters pettily.

"Didn't say he was. Come on, we've got about ten minutes before the show starts and I want you with me." Nami says, hopping off of the bar stool and holding out her hand for him. Sanji blushes and takes it, following her to the stage edge.

Zoro spots him and crouches down at the edge of the stage, his cast resting on his bent knees as he balances.

"Hey." Zoro greets him with a grin.

"Hey." Sanji responds, his eyes lingering on Zoro's cast. How long will it be until he can play again? Sanji's voice being messed up irritates him and upsets him but he's not physically incapacitated in the same way that Zoro is.

"No bitching about how well I sing compared to you, alright?" Zoro teases him.

"I'll try to restrain myself." Sanji smirks at him, sighing theatrically as if it's a very onerous burden that Zoro's placed on his shoulders.

"We've only got five minutes before the show starts, if she's gonna turn up she's got to do it soon." Nami says, checking her watch.

"I think you jinxed it there. Oi, Robin." Franky calls under his breath, his gaze roving back out over the crowd. Robin nods sharply and steps into the shadows, her face briefly illuminated by the light of her phone as she makes the call. Sanji looks out into the crowd and spots the black swathe of curly hair that signals Baby.

She makes her way through the crowd parting people here and there as she goes. Zoro stands up to her full height as she arrives at the edge of his stage. He looks down at her with a stiff glare as she stops there.

In all honesty she looks like a bit of a mess. There are dark lines under her eyes that appear to be from a lack of sleep rather than any kind of makeup, her hair is rumpled and generally her slick, in control, put together appearance is altogether lacking. Sanji wonders where she's been staying whilst everyone has been looking for her this past week. Nami slides herself in between Baby and Sanji, not so much to protect Sanji but perhaps to skip ahead in the line of people who want to kick her ass.

"Zoro-" She starts, looking up at him with her big brown eyes pleading.

"Can it. If you've got shit to say to me then your mic is over there, I hope you're ready because we are. That's what this has always been about right? Putting me in my place and you getting what you want? Well go ahead." Zoro challenges her with a sweep of his arm to the stage at the other side of the room.

Sanji watches Baby's eyes widen in disbelief, as if she can't even compute that Zoro could speak to her like that. She looks around at the rest of them and every single member of their band stares back, fiercely protective, just daring her to take another step closer.

"We know exactly what you've been doing to Zoro this whole time, he told us everything. I regret ever letting you anywhere near him, I never liked you and I should have listened to that." Usopp snarls, his voice far more ruthless than it was when he was attacking Sanji before. The blonde singer stares up at the furious keyboard player and for a split second sees who he really is. He might be a goofy fun loving guy with a wife that he's a sappy mess for, but if you hurt his friends he'll break bones for them, he'd walk over hot coals and throw his life on the line. That's who Usopp is.

Baby wisely backs off and when she seems to feel like she's at a safe distance she turns her back on them and strides to her stage, ignoring questions and comments from her fans. She barely even acknowledges that they're alive. Sanji feels the boa constrictor of stress loosen from around his chest and he starts to breathe again.

Baby takes her place on her stage with her rather unnerved looking band, she doesn't spare a glance at them though and instead just stares Zoro down with the coldest goddamn stare that Sanji's seen in his whole life. She and Zoro stand opposite each other on their respective stages and for a moment Sanji is reminded of an old western standoff, cowboys with fingers twitching by their guns, waiting to shoot first. Sanji supposes that in this metaphor he's the helpless dame hiding in a building waiting for it to all be over, he's just about as superfluous here.

Under the bright stage lights Sanji can see that Baby didn't walk away from the crash entirely unmarred. There's a gash on her forehead, probably a result of the airbag blowing up in her face as she ran her car head on into the side of Sanji's pickup. The cut itself is the dark red of a healing wound with purple discolouration spreading over her forehead and down over one eye where the cut intersects with her eyebrow. The whole thing gives her one hell of a shiner. The lips that Sanji had previously thought of as perfect cupids bows have split in too. Generally she looks exactly as she is, the participant in a car crash. He's got no sympathy though, none of that is as bad as what she's done to Zoro most recently or even what Sanji's seen Zoro patch up himself in the past.

From behind the bar Shakky raises her microphone to her lips.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the final round of the competition. We've all seen some truly amazing acts so far and tonight is the final round. Our two remaining bands will start the show off and the band with the winning song will be crowned the winner of our competition and the stars of the upcoming tour along the first half of the Grand Line!" She announces with some theatre. The crowd goes wild as the lights dim, leaving the two stages lit up and Sanji in the dark. Nami reaches for his hand and squeezes it tight. Sanji laces his fingers with hers and tries to comfort her, regardless of how much Nami wants revenge he can sense her nervousness.

"As always ladies first. Ladies and Gentlemen, give it up for Baby 5!" Shakky calls out. The lights over Zoro's stage dim somewhat and those over Baby's get brighter. Sanji's ears ring with cheering from the crowd in the club and for a split second Baby looks lost until her stage persona slides smoothly over her face. She says something away from the mic to her bandmates and then returns to the mic.

"Consider this a love letter to the guy who breaks my heart, amongst other things." Baby says into the microphone.

She licks her lips and leans into the microphone, her eyes set straight on Zoro and she starts to sing. At first it's just her voice, the rest of her band are scrambling to get their instruments set up right and come in at the right time, but it seems that Baby doesn't want to wait for anyone. Her voice rings clear across the room with its sick message.

"You hit me once,

I hit you back,

You gave a kick,

I gave a slap,

You smashed a plate,

Over my head.

Then I set fire to our bed"

With that the drummer comes in along with the guitars. Sanji's jaw drops. With her looking as beat up as she does on stage then... well, it's obvious what she's implying. She's implying that Zoro did this to her and that she only hurt him back in self defence or... or something twisted like that. Sanji just stands there with his jaw open in shock at the outright absurdity of it. But Zoro had said she'd do something like this, try to convince people that it was her who got hurt and not him. Being told about it is one thing but actually seeing and hearing her do just that is too galling to wrap his mind around.

"You hit me once,

I hit you back,

You gave a kick,

I gave a slap,

You smashed a plate,

Over my head,

Then I set fire to our bed"

"I can't believe... the nerve of her! I'm going to-" Nami snarls and moves forwards. Robin darts ahead though and grabs Nami's elbow, holding her back and giving her a stern shake of the head.

"She has nothing to lose by doing this and everything to win, that's what she thinks anyway." Zoro comments quietly and Sanji is glad that the mic is off.

"My black eye casts no shadow,

Your red eye sees no blame,

Your slaps don't stick,

Your kicks don't hit,

So we remain the same,

Blood sticks, sweat drips,

Break the lock if it don't fit,

A kick in the teeth is good for some,

A kiss with a fist is better than none,

Whoa a kiss with a fist is better than none"

"I've got lots to lose, I'm not going to let her win, I'm going to fight. Trust me, just leave her be or else she'll win." Zoro says, looking down at him, Nami and Robin from his place on the stage. Sanji grits his teeth. What she's singing is designed to get under Zoro's skin, designed to piss them off and make them fight dirty to get back to her. But no one else in the room knows what's really going on, she'll play them and make it look like she's the victim.

"I broke your jaw once before

I spilt your blood upon the floor

You broke my leg in return

So let's sit back and watch the bed burn

Blood sticks sweat drips

Break the lock if it don't fit

A kick in the teeth is good for some

A kiss with a fist is better than none

Whoa a kiss with a fist is better than none"

Sanji's eyes widen as the guitar plays some more, he knows this riff, it's one that he's heard Zoro playing for ages. It appeared in some of their older songs and now... now Baby's stealing it again and in a song that accuses him of being in some sort of horrifying mutually abusive relationship!

"You hit me once

I hit you back

You gave a kick

I gave a slap

You smashed a plate over my head

Then I set fire to our bed"

Baby looks pissed as she sings, she's glaring at Zoro, seemingly furious with him as she belts out her lies into the microphone. Sanji looks up at him and sees that Zoro isn't looking at Baby, he barely seems to be paying attention to her at all. His eyes are on Sanji instead.

Sanji jolts at the eye contact. Zoro's looking at him, really looking at him. His eyes are soft and warm and his mouth is set in a gentle smile. He's looking at Sanji like there's no one else in the room and like nobody else matters at all.

"I've got this." He assures Sanji quietly.

"I trust you." Sanji responds at the same volume. Baby finishes up her song and Zoro returns his attention to her, resting his chin on the mic stand as he watches her. Zoro looks almost calm, it's unlike all the others on the stage and unlike Nami and Robin at Sanji's side. He supposes that Zoro has more experience with seeing this side of Baby, the depths of her cruelty is not a surprise to him.

"You hit me once

I hit you back

You gave a kick

I gave a slap

You smashed a plate over my head

Then I set fire to our bed"

The crows bursts into enthusiastic applause and Baby drinks it up, her wicked smile broadening as she looks at Zoro. Her expression is something between a smug dare for him to beat that and also trying to gauge how much her song affected him. When the applause dies down Zoro leans into his own microphone. Sanji doesn't know what he's going to say, is he going to call her a liar? Say he never did those things? Will people believe him or not?

"I know you broke up with me ages ago, so maybe I shouldn't say..." Zoro begins calmly, not letting it show how much she may have ruffled him.

"Clever boy..." Robin breathes and Sanji catches on. Everyone saw Baby break up with Zoro, so Zoro couldn't possibly be the man that she's referring to.

"But you should probably leave that guy if you're basing that song off of reality, nothing worse than being with someone who hurts you." Zoro says, his voice the picture of innocent concern. Baby looks like Zoro may as well have just slapped her, she's completely shocked and outraged. Clever boy indeed.

Zoro's message is loud and clear, just as much as Baby's was. 'You missed me, I've had worse'.

"And now, the Straw Hats! Everyone please show your love for this great band as they put forward their song for the competition." Shakky calls out across the speaker system, breaking the weird and subtext filled exchange between the two performers. The crowd replaces their conversation instead, cheering wildly. Sanji is starting to be able to pick out the faces of a few regulars and for a few moments he feels a pang of loss, he wishes that he was up on that stage about to sing. Down here he feels at a loss.

Whilst the crowd roars on Zoro flicks a glance down to Sanji.

"Remember you asked me to write that song about my relationship with her? I finished it." Zoro says quickly and quietly. There's no time for Sanji to ask more information though as the crowd quietens down, eager to see the next act. The lights turn down and Sanji can't even see Zoro's expression anymore and he finds himself just as eager as the crowd to see what's coming next. Sanji's mind buzzes desperately, this must have been what Zoro was so secretive about. He didn't want Sanji to get wind of this song before he sang it!

Franky's bass starts up and the lights come on to Zoro. His voice is low and smooth as it begins to rise up through notes. Zoro's face is tilted down to the microphone but his eyes are trained dead ahead on Baby, this song is just for her.

"Love me cancerously, like a salt-sore soaked in the sea.

"High maintenance" means you're a gluttonous queen,

narcissistic and mean."

There's a second of silence as Zoro pauses along with Franky's bass. He snaps his fingers and smirks right at Baby, the challenge to win the competition and wound the other clearly fully taken on. Zoro's voice becomes louder and more aggressive now, the musical equivalent to throwing a punch.

"Kill me romantically, fill my soul with vomit,

then ask me for a piece of gum.

Bitter and dumb, you're my sugarplum,

you're awful, I love you!"

Sanji's jaw drops. This isn't some light version of their relationship that's being painted up for all to hear. This is the blood and guts of it, the awful viscera of the relationship that was toxic to both of them being dragged out like a carcass. Sanji had challenged Zoro to be honest with himself about what their relationship was like and Zoro is showing right now that he took that challenge seriously. Baby is just as shocked with all of her attention focused on Zoro and his words, she looks like she can't believe what her ears are telling her. She's no doubt wondering where the man who begged for her when she dumped him on stage has gone. Where has the man who pleaded with her to calm down and not hurt him gone?

Zoro moves into a chorus that sounds more like a love ballad, if not for the acidic words and creepy imagery. Brook and Usopp sing softly in the background, just harmonising with Zoro's voice to lend an almost otherworldly feel to the song.

"She moves through moonbeams slowly.

She knows just how to hold me,

and when her edges soften, her body is my coffin.

I know she drains me slowly

She wears me down to bones in bed,"

A fire flashes in Zoro's eyes and a sick grin splits his face as he spits out the next two lines right at Baby.

"Must be the sign on my head, it says,

Oh love me dead!

Love me dead!"

Sanji shudders at the lyrics. Oh, it's catchy alright but there's another meaning to the words 'love me dead'. If Sanji hadn't helped Zoro see the light when he did then, well, Zoro may have ended up in a body bag before he ended his relationship with Baby. Her pattern of violence had been escalating, Zoro said as much himself, and that sort of thing only ended one way.

"You're a faith-healer on tv

You're an office park without any trees

corporate and cold, gushing for gold

leave me alone."

The stage lights and the bar lights are bright enough now for Sanji to be able to see movement through the crowd. He strains on his tiptoes and recognises the black bob cut, it's the police officer that had been at the lakeside, the one who's card Zoro had. Robin must have called her as soon as Baby showed up.

There's a fluttering fear in Sanji's chest that Baby will notice the police cutting through the crowd on either side of her stage to block her in, but Zoro's lyrical attack has all of her attention. She's not noticing anything or going anywhere as long as Zoro keeps singing, but that had been Zoro's plan all along hadn't it?

"You suck so passionately,

You're a parasitic, psycho, filthy creature,

finger-bangin' my heart.

You call me up drunk, does the fun ever start?

You're hideous...and sexy!"

Zoro's words are getting sharper and more pointed. Sanji would have to be blind to miss that as well as the shock of the whole song Baby looks... wounded by Zoro's words. Zoro on the other hand is radiating malicious vengeance in waves so thick that Sanji can almost physically feel them.

"She moves through moonbeams slowly,

she knows just how to hold me,

and when her edges soften, her body is my coffin.

I know she drains me slowly

She wears me down to bones in bed,

must be the sign on my head, it says,

Oh love me dead!

Love me dead

Must be the sign on my head, it says,

Oh love me dead!

Love me dead! Wow! Uh"

Brook busts out a guitar solo that whilst impressive doesn't hold a candle to what Sanji knows Zoro is capable of. The guitarist himself is clearly antsy about not playing that part himself, his uninjured hand twitching and making patterns in the air for notes that he's not playing.

"Love me cancerously." Zoro sings imploringly. He pulls back from the microphone a little and whistles as the instruments around him fall silent.

Zoro's eyes lock onto Baby once more and suddenly everyone on stage starts shouting a tune at her, making her stumble back in shock.

"How's your new boy? Does he know about me?

You've got the mark of the beast.

You're born of a jackal! You're pitiful!"

Zoro moves into the chorus slowly and sinfully as the police pincer on either side of Baby's stage, boxing her in where she stands and trapping her. She still hasn't noticed them yet though, she's far too focused on Zoro's song.

"She moves through moonbeams slowly,

She knows just how to hold me,

and when her edges soften, her body is my coffin.

I know she drains me slowly

She wears me down to bones in bed,

must be the sign on my head, it says,

Oh love me dead!

Love me dead"

Suddenly Baby notices the female police officer with the dark hair climbing on stage. She pulls a pair of handcuffs from the back of her belt and moves towards her, speaking something unheard with the music playing above. Baby blanches and backs away, turning to escape down the other side of the stage only to come face to face with the other younger officer who is blocking her path.

"Wha' 'bout this sign on my head

it says "Oh love me dead!"

Love me dead! Love me dead! Love me dead!

Oh...love me dead!"

Zoro finishes loud and strong, Sanji would have been proud to finish that way himself. His heart catches in his throat and his ears ring as the audience goes wild for the song, none having yet noticed the situation with Baby.

"I think that's a pretty clear win from the audience's perspective!" Shakky laughs over the microphone.

"May I present this year's winners of the Grand Line Tour contest, The Straw Hats!" She calls over the crowd, causing the cheering to climb even louder.

"You can't do this!" Baby screams and now she has the attention of the crowd, whether she wanted it or not.

"You're under arrest for double attempted murder, dangerous driving, fleeing the scene of a collision and resisting arrest." The female police officer is trying to get her into the cuffs and continues reading her the standard rights, all that about anything she says may be given in evidence and so forth.

"He made me do it, I had no choice!" She screams, her hair flying around her as she struggles and kicks at the officer. The second male officer has to come forward and grab the other side of her, securing her in a stronger grip.

Sanji looks up at Zoro and sees that he's as tense as a coiled spring on stage, his eyes locked on her resisting form, almost as if he's aware of nothing else in the world. Usopp curls his arm around his best friend.

"They've got her, you're ok." Usopp says gently, rubbing a hand gently over the shoulder on Zoro's injured arm. As the police drag her away to the stares of the onlooking crowd Baby's head whips around like something out of The Exorcist.

"You'll regret this!" She screams at Zoro in a completely deranged way. Zoro flinches and Sanji sees Usopp hold him a little tighter. As she's removed from the building amidst scandalised whispers and photographs from the crows Sanji can't stop the feeling of worry that getting rid of her is not going to be this simple.

A/n: Songs this time are Kiss with a Fist by Florence + The Machine and Love Me Dead by Ludo (we all knew that one was coming)

I will add here folks, because I know i'll be asked this, this is not the last chapter. There is more to come.


	22. Chapter 22

It had been three months since what had been officially termed “the accident”. It had been termed that by Baby's lawyer, the court and the media who had reported on the whole thing. There were plenty of advantages to being their own label as the Straw Hats were, creative freedom, self management, image control. Traditional labels could really screw artists over by taking a huge share of their profits, getting artists tarred with the same brush when the label did something unscrupulous. However there was the benefit that a large label usually had a large budget for legal fees, something that the Straw Hats didn't have. 

Baby's manager had leapt into action almost the moment she was arrested. He sent her for a psych evaluation where, unsurprisingly, they found her mentally unstable. He managed to get the trial rushed through on the grounds of her health, leaving the police with little time to pull together a solid double attempted homicide case. 

The whole thing had been ruled out as a suicide attempt and dangerous driving, their lawyer couldn't prove without a shred of doubt that Baby had seen them. The whole thing was absolute bullshit and Zoro had nearly broken his other arm when he came home after the verdict and punched everything in his room until Sanji had managed to stop him. Zoro had nearly clocked him and Sanji personally thinks that it was the fact that Zoro almost hurt him that stopped him, he'd be naïve to think that Zoro didn't fear turning to violence as Baby had. After all, most perpetrators of domestic abuse were previous victims of it. 

The end result was that Baby was currently confined to a mental health institution, undergoing court mandated treatment and serving out a house arrest for six months. Robin, Nami and Usopp were beyond furious about that but Sanji was just glad that she was out of their hair for the time being. He'd worry about what was going to happen when she got out in three months. 

Sanji checks his hair in the mirror of the bathroom. He fusses with it, rearranging it where the wind had blown it about on the way to the office that he was in. He tugs at the collar of his nice shirt and smooths it down. The pastel blue shirt it unbuttoned with a black T-shirt underneath, it read 'Gentlecook'. Zoro had got it for him and despite the way that Zoro teased him Sanji quite liked it. Still, the whole look was far more casual than the dressy style that Sanji preferred for a date. He was taking Zoro out after this, but the date wasn't so much for him as it was for Zoro, and so they were going to one of Zoro's places with absolutely no dress code, official or otherwise. 

Satisfied with his reflection he checks his watch and heads out of the bathroom into the plush psychiatrist's waiting room. He settles himself down in a leather chair that seems to eat him the second it holds his weight. There's a white noise generator above the door that makes soft rain sounds and makes it impossible to pick out words from the muted speech going on in the room on the other side of the thick wooden door. 

It took forever to get Zoro to agree to go to this place, despite his initial agreement on the idea with Sanji something always seemed to come up. At first Zoro protested that he was still looking for someone, that excuse got shot down by Kaya pulling in a favour to get them both seen by a professional colleague of one of her psych professors from med school. After that Zoro had just not got around to booking an appointment, what with the trial and everything, or so he said. When Sanji had finally got bored of waiting and gone on his own Zoro had claimed that he wanted to hear Sanji's results and opinion on the guy before going. 

It turned out that Sanji himself had relatively little damage from his ordeal with Baby. No lingering fears of women or cars. He just had some perfectly normal unresolved anger at her and himself for Zoro getting hurt, but the doctor walked him through the idea that it wasn't Sanji's fault and assured him that the rest would fade over time. Sanji has to say that the doctor was right, now if only speech therapy was as easy. 

Zoro gave excuse after excuse until Nami literally forced him into going by tricking him into her car and driving him there. Franky had to practically throw the idiot into the doctor's office before he'd go. Their first session was the same hour and a half session that Sanji had been through and was just a general test of overall mental health and whether or not it was worth pursuing further treatment. 

If Nami and Franky's treatment of Zoro had been the stick then Sanji was offering the carrot. The doctor obviously wouldn't see someone who didn't want to see him and so Sanji had promised that after his appointment they'd go out to dinner, just the two of them, to anywhere that Zoro wanted. After a little suggestive eyebrow waggling that implied that dinner would not be all Zoro would getting that night Zoro then agreed to see the doctor. 

In Sanji's entirely untrained opinion he thinks that Zoro's afraid to find out just what kind of damage Baby's done to him. Besides, he's not an especially reflective guy. Zoro prefers to deal with the problem in front of him and ignore the aftermath. If he can't immediately face it head on then Zoro doesn't want to know about it. 

He's just settling into the soft leather seat, his head resting comfortably on the back of the chair and his eyes starting to drift shut in relaxation when the office door bangs open and startles Sanji nearly a foot into the air. 

“I'm OUT of here you fucking QUACK. You don't know shit about what you're saying, I'm not WEAK!” Zoro roars, storming from the office with the doctor on his heels. 

“I wasn't saying that at all Zoro, there are no judgments here, please calm down.” The doctor insists, his voice meek and his eyes wide. 

Sanji quite likes the doctor. His name is Merry and he has big watery eyes and cotton coloured curly hair. He reminds Sanji of a little lamb and to see Zoro shouting at him like that is more than a little disturbing. 

“Whoa, whoa, what's going on here?” Sanji asks, getting to his feet and putting himself between the livid Zoro and the wide eyed doctor. 

“He says I'm mental, I told you I didn't want to do this!” Zoro says accusingly, pointing a finger right in Merry's face and giving Sanji a withering glare as if the whole thing is somehow his fault. 

“You're not mental Zoro, that's a very unhelpful and judgemental term. Besides, that wasn't what I said or meant.” The doctor soothes, but Zoro is having none of it. 

“Then what to you call that shit? Anger issues and PTSB or whatever it was?!” Zoro snarls at him. 

“PTSB?” Sanji frowns in confusion, he's never heard of that. 

“PTSD.” Dr Merry corrects Zoro. 

“Whatever.” Zoro snaps.

“Oh, isn't that the thing that soldiers get when they've had the shit bombed out of them?” Sanji asks as a long lost memory of some news broadcast flashes up in his mind. He catches Dr Merry's wince though and wonders if he's just insulted an entire condition with his ham fisted definition.

“It is something that soldiers often experience but it's more complex than that. Plenty of people have traumatic life experiences and develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, it's really not unusual Zoro and it certainly does not mean that you are, as you would put it, 'mental'.” Merry says calmly.

“If you'd like to go back into my office in private we can-” Merry starts again, trying to usher Zoro into the office to resume their conversation away from Sanji's unqualified ears. Zoro however reacts like a cat about to be shoved in a bath. He ducks under Merry's arm and somehow puts Sanji in between him and Merry without Sanji even really seeing him move. 

“No way. You're completely wrong about me, I'm not sick and I'm not weak.” Zoro says, shaking his head sharply.

If this is Zoro's reaction to any diagnosis then Sanji can perhaps understand his reluctance to go to the shrink at all. He's lucky that he listened to Doctorine though, Zoro clearly has some kind of issues as Merry is saying, but at this rate Zoro's going to end up worse off for the diagnosis, not better. 

Sanji turns around and pokes Zoro in his cast. He's getting it off the next day, all of the pins in his arm meant that the healing took far longer than normal. 

“Would you say your arm was weak for breaking when the car hit us?” Sanji asks, staring Zoro straight in the eyes. 

“What? No. You saw what the car did to the door, I was lucky it was just my arm.” Zoro answers, looking puzzled at the apparently abrupt change in topic. 

“Right, because you had thousands of pounds of metal smash into you, so your bone broke. It's normal.” he continues. 

“Well, yeah. What are you getting at?” the guitarist asks with a confused little frown that Sanji would almost find adorable if Zoro wasn't being a stubborn idiot. 

“By the same logic you'd be stupid to think that being with Baby since you were fourteen and having her mentally kick your psyche around for years would mean that everything in your head would be fine. So something's gotten a little damaged up there and you've got PTSD or whatever. Honestly I'd be stunned if nothing was wrong. I'm pretty sure I'd be a complete dribbling lunatic if I'd been with her that long and went through what you did.” Sanji points out. He shudders at the thought of being in that sort of relationship with Baby and what it might do to any previously sane man. 

Zoro just stares at him and Sanji holds his gaze, he's not backing down on this. 

“Seeing a doctor for this is no different than going to the ER for your busted arm was.” he reiterates in case Zoro's missed his point. 

“Sanji is right Zoro, this is all perfectly normal and to be expected. More people than you might think get psychological help throughout their lives, and you've been through a lot of traumatic things.” Merry says gently, as if Zoro was some small skittish animal. 

“I should be able to deal with this, you turned out fine.” Zoro grumbles, looking at Sanji in a vaguely accusatory way. 

“Yeah, and I didn't break my arm in the car crash. You know, because we were in different positions.” Sanji says loudly and jabs Zoro in the ribs. 

“Don't be an idiot and get some shitty medical attention already. Quit beating yourself up, you've had enough of that in your life already.” Sanji adds. 

He hears Merry's gasp behind him. The doctor is probably horrified that Sanji could so callously bring up such a tense subject like that with Zoro. He'd be wrong though. Everyone else in their house either tries to avoid talking about the whole Baby situation or talks about it with unparalleled venom, either way it's a hugely emotionally charged subject. Zoro's not really fond of either approach. Sanji however has found that Zoro reacts best if Sanji just talks about it as a thing that happened. Zoro knows that Sanji thinks it's horrible, he doesn't need Sanji to preface every mention of it with that and he doesn't need Sanji treating him like he's made of glass. It's hard to appreciate the value of normalcy until it's suddenly lacking from a person's life. 

“You're a real bastard, you know that?” Zoro bitches, rolling his eyes in despair. 

“I've been told so.” Sanji admits in agreement, a grin sneaking across his face. 

Sanji watches as Zoro's whole body moves with the deep breath that he draws in and then seems to uncoil as he breathes it out. Zoro rolls his shoulders as if he was getting ready for a workout and turns back to the doctor who backs off a mite as if he thinks Zoro might punch him with his good hand. 

“Sorry I snapped at you Dr. Merry, I'm kind of a dick sometimes. So I'm told anyway.” Zoro adds, flicking a smirk over his shoulder at Sanji who snickers good naturedly. 

“I guess you're the one qualified to say what's wrong with my head, and Kaya seems to think that you're good from what she's told me. So... I guess I'll agree to letting you rummage around in my head.” Zoro says with a soft sigh. 

Merry looks startled for a good few seconds before he reacts and then takes Zoro over to the desk to agree a regular time to see Zoro. Sanji shoves his hands in his pockets and allows himself to beam happily now that Zoro can't see him quite so much. He's actually pretty fucking proud of Zoro. Admitting that there's a need for help isn't an easy thing to do for anyone, but it's got to be especially hard for someone as self reliant as Zoro. He feels pretty damn privileged to be able to witness that and for Zoro to trust him enough to see him back down from his pride. For such a shitty bastard like him Sanji's a pretty lucky guy. 

“If you keep grinning like that your face will stick that way and you'll look like that forever.” Zoro says, snapping Sanji out of his daze. 

“I don't know what you mean.” Sanji says, wiping the smile off of his face as best he can. 

“Sure you do, that stupid dorky smile could be seen from space.” Zoro chuckles darkly, taking Sanji by the elbow and leading him out of the office. 

“Nah, it's obscured by your ego.” Sanji retorts and Zoro retaliates by shoving Sanji into the wall and sprinting off down the stairs. Being the mature adult that Sanji is his first reaction is to yell and chase after him so that the two of them get into a one armed slap fight as they run along down the street, causing havoc to pedestrians anywhere near them. 

 

“So how do you suppose that they get those casts off then?” Sanji asks the room idly. He's hanging upside down from the sofa, his legs over the back and his head dangling from the seat cushions as he watches Chopper, Franky and Luffy race each other in Mario Kart on the TV. Sanji would be playing with them but one of the controllers has never worked all that well since Luffy tried to play a race with his tongue and absolutely no one wants that controller any more.

“Beats me.” Luffy shrugs, sticking his tongue out with concentration as he corners on Rainbow Road and his car goes into a loop the loop on the track. 

“Probably with some kind of saw.” Robin answers and turns a page in her book. 

“Makes sense.” Sanji agrees thoughtfully. He kind of wishes that he could have been there to watch Zoro getting the thing taken off. But Zoro had stolen the shower first and forgotten to wake Sanji in time to use it too, so by the time Sanji was ready they were already out of the door. Besides, Nami was there to pay the last of the fees in person, Usopp was there for moral support. They really didn't need him too and besides the two of them don't need to be together at every second of every day. 

“I hope the saw doesn't go to deep and cut Zoro's arm off.” Robin remarks casually as if she hadn't just brought up the maiming of Sanji's lover. 

“Wait, what? No way, surely they have some kind of safety so that doesn't happen!” Sanji squeaks in fear. He hadn't thought about it but if they use a saw wasn't that some kind of possibility? Shit!

“Oh man! If they cut off Zoro's arm does that mean he'll get an awesome cyborg arm? That'd be so coooool!” Luffy yells excitedly. 

“I don't think it works like that Luffy.” Chopper frowns and then groans as his little mushroom car careens off of the track and plunges down into the void of space. 

“Yeah, I wish tech was that advanced. Hell I'd chop things off just to get the cyborg parts, I'd be an awesome cyborg.” Franky chuckles to himself. 

“They should have just chopped Zoro's arm off as soon as he went in there then!” Luffy exclaims in delight. 

“No one is getting an arm chopped off!” Sanji yells angrily, with just a touch of anxiety. 

“Well you never know,” Robin comments airily, “hospitals do make mistakes.”

“What? No! He's going to be fine!” Sanji answers hotly, anxiety creeping up his neck. No one could make that kind of mistake, could they? But then there were stories in the papers every now and then of people who went in for one kind of surgery and came out with another having been done on them. But that was completely different, right? 

“Hey, we're back!” Usopp calls, the sound of the front door opening and closing echoing over to them. Sanji flips himself back upright and finds himself stupidly relieved when Zoro walks in with both arms intact and just a cast missing. 

“Zoro, you're okay.” Sanji says with no small amount of relief. Zoro looks in pretty good shape actually, his forearm is covered with a white compression bandage, not unlike the kind you'd get for a sprain. It mainly covers his wrist and part of his forearm rather than the entire area that was under the cast. Despite Zoro's naturally tan skin tone Sanji can see the line where the cast has been and where the skin underneath is slightly paler. 

“Of course I am.” Zoro responds.

“Sanji thought they might make a mistake and chop your arm off.” Franky chips in with a sneaky grin. 

“Wait- hey- that wasn't what I-” Sanji protests weakly, looking around at the offending man.

“It was really quite sweet how he was worrying.” Robin agrees with a little catlike smile. 

“Wh- but- I...” Sanji protests with a whine. 

“Seriously cook? You idiot.” Zoro laughs at him, making his way around the sofa to Sanji.

“N-no! That wa-wasn't-” Sanji argues, his words getting caught again. Goddamnit, lately he's been so much better. His speech has been far smoother but now and then the fucking speech impediment jumps up to come and interrupt him and usually at the worst times too. 

“I'm just fucking with you.” Zoro grins and perches on the arm of the sofa. 

“Hey Luffy, check out my badass scars.” Zoro says, peeling back his support bandage. Luffy's eyes shine with childish excitements as Zoro reveals the long jagged scar at the top of his forearm. Sanji has a flash of memory appear behind his eyes. Zoro covered in his own blood and cradling his arm with a sharp white bone jutting out of it, ripping the flesh asunder. Sanji swallows sickly and tries to shove down the nauseous clammy feeling that's suddenly overtaken him. 

Zoro is oblivious to Sanji's mental theatre and is stiffly turning his arm this way and that and pointing to smaller scars, explaining that it's where the doctors put the pins in his arm. Luffy and Chopper nod excitedly. 

“My fingers are still stiff as fuck and my wrist is even worse, twisting my arm is painful and it all just feels really weird.” Zoro explains. 

“Yeah, the doctor was pretty explicit that the healing was nowhere near done yet, you've still got physio to go through. You're not allowed to play your guitar for at least a month either.” Usopp says firmly, waving his finger sternly in Zoro's face. 

“Already hidden them, I know what he's like.” Franky comments, crossing the finish line on Rainbow Road first and taking advantage of Luffy and Chopper's distraction. 

“Hey!” Zoro exclaims indignantly, even though Franky was blatantly right to do it. Sanji is just surprised that Franky got there before Sanji thought to hide them himself. 

“Hey bro, just remember that your wrist is gonna be pretty weak after not using it for so long.” Franky pipes up, taking his eyes off of the screen and looking over his shoulder at Zoro. 

“Yeah, I know that.” Zoro frowns. 

“So, you know... don't go all out right away.” Franky guffaws, making an obscene jerking off gesture with his hand. 

“Franky!” Nami snaps and whacks him over the head with her handbag as Zoro guffaws. 

“It's ok, I've got Sanji to do that for me.” Zoro chuckles dirtily, leaping over the back of the sofa with his good hand and landing at Sanji's side before placing a sloppy kiss on Sanji's cheek. 

“Don't push your luck, bastard.” Sanji grumbles. 

“Anyway, I'm playing next. I've not been able to play for months so it's definitely my turn.” the guitarist proclaims, reaching over where Franky is sat on the floor and grabbing his controller. Sanji watches out of the corner of his eye as Zoro tentatively holds the controller in both hands and stiffly moves his thumb over the buttons. Sanji supposes that it's gentle enough and Zoro does need to get back into using his hand. 

“Alright, if Zoro's playing then I'm in. I've got a better chance of winning if he's playing.” Sanji pipes up, taking Luffy's controller.

“Oi, what's that supposed to mean? I'm the best and cornering here, I'm a great driver!” Zoro snaps, elbowing Sanji in the side. 

“No one said you weren't, and if you could figure out the right way around the track every time you'd always win. However, seeing as you're a directionless moron I'm still betting on me instead of you.” he replies and retaliates by elbowing Zoro back. 

“Did I hear something about betting?” Nami asks, perking up and turning her attention back to them. She had just been on her way out of the room after beating Franky senseless, but mentioning bets of any form was a sure fire way to get her attention.

“NO!” The rest of the room responds for Sanji. Most of them have learnt by now not to bet with Nami, the only person it ends well for is Nami herself. 

“Mean.” She pouts and saunters out. 

 

Sanji isn't sure at first what wakes him up, but when he shivers from the lack of heat he realises that it's because his own personal bed warmer has mysteriously disappeared. He sits up in bed, eyes blurry from sleep. The half of his bed usually occupied by Zoro is empty and clearly has been long enough for the bedsheets to go cold. Sanji rummages for his phone in the dark and fumbles for the home button with sleepy fingers. The room is illuminated in the pale light of the phone and though Sanji squints at the sudden brightness he can read enough to see that it's half three in the morning. 

He slithers out from under the sheets and scratches at his lower back, knowing full well that the bedsheets have left imprints on his skin. Zoro's not in the bathroom and a cursory check Sanji sees that Zoro hasn't just decided that now his arm is out of his cast he's sleeping alone again, something Sanji is secretly glad about. For all that he bitches about Zoro's snoring he does quite like sharing a bed with the man. 

He goes back to his room and grabs his smokes, the wakefulness setting off his nicotine cravings. He lights one up and goes to find Zoro. There are a few options here. Either Zoro's got hungry and decided to get up to eat, which is unlike him but still possible. Perhaps he couldn't sleep and instead of tossing and turning and risk waking Sanji up too he decided to go elsewhere. Again, that's possible but Sanji knows Zoro, the guy as a surprisingly high sex drive for someone so placid and on the surface apparently disinterested in sex. Zoro would be more inclined to wake Sanji with little kisses in the hope of winning him over to some sleepy sex to send him back into sleep than he would be to let Sanji sleep. 

So this begs the question of where is Zoro? Sanji comes to the conclusion that he is probably no good and probably doing something he shouldn't be doing. Sanji's always up for a rousing game of 'hunt the idiot boyfriend' and so he checks the usual places that Zoro hides out. He's not in the living room or in the recording studio, nor is he in the kitchen. If it was the middle of the day Sanji would check if Zoro was napping in the sunbeam that comes through the library window, but as it's the middle of the night he can pass that area. There is no Zoro to be heard or seen anywhere. 

Sanji bites his cigarette in irritation and some ash falls off of the end. The thing is nearly done with anyway and without an ashtray around he goes outside to put out the cigarette. He grinds the butt out on the paving stone outside the front door and it's then that he spots a faint light spilling from the garage window. He follows it to see that lights are coming from inside the tour bus, specifically upstairs. Zoro is hunting for his guitars. 

He sneaks inside the bus on silently stealthy bare feet, making it all the way up to the top deck where faint notes of music are drifting down. He pauses and listens, if he didn't know it was Zoro playing then he wouldn't have guessed. The notes sound shaky and he can hear that each note wavers and doesn't stay clean and clear like it should do. He pokes his head up into the floor and comes all the way in. Zoro spots him and stops playing, the guilty flush high on his cheeks as he sits there with his treasured white acoustic and the ripped up floor panels of her apparent hiding place scattered around him. He's well and truly caught. 

“You know you're not supposed to be doing this Zoro, you're being bad. I ought to spank you.” Sanji threatens mildly, a smirk on his face. He gets to watch as Zoro's face goes through a complex mix of 'uh oh', 'oh no' and 'oh yes'. 

“I don't... know how to feel about that.” Zoro admits, his cheeks even redder. Sanji snickers and settles down on the floor near him. He takes Zoro's injured hand in his own and tenderly feels his wrist and up his arm. There's some swelling there but Sanji doesn't think that it's from what Zoro's doing now, it's more likely just from having movement in his arm again.

“It sounds shit.” Zoro complains quietly. 

“Yeah well, you can't p-play and I can't sing. We're a shitty band.” Sanji assures him, not minding that his words catch as it kind of proves his point. 

Zoro snarls and grabs Sanji in by the back of the neck, hauling him in for a kiss that's almost more of a bite of his mouth than it is a kiss. Sanji wobbles unsteadily on his knees, off balance and not wanting to put his weight on Zoro's guitar or on his arm. He's saved from the dilemma when Zoro lets him lean back and breaks the kiss, though his hand is still on the back of Sanji's neck. 

“You can sing, you will sing again, don't you dare claim otherwise.” Zoro orders him. 

“Mixed messages or what?” Sanji smirks and kisses Zoro again. Zoro groans and shoves Sanji flat on his back with his injured hand. Sanji goes easily and falls back onto the plush padded floor of the bus. It's so strange, it feels like almost yesterday that they were in this bus on the road before Baby drove her car into them, but equally it feels like almost a lifetime ago too. 

“Aren't you gonna bitch at me for playing when I shouldn't? I'd figured you'd be balls deep into a lecture by now.” Zoro asks crudely, settling himself into the space on the floor next to Sanji with his guitar resting off to the side.

“I don't bitch.” Sanji answers sharply, shooting a scowl at Zoro.

“Suuuuure.” Zoro chuckles softly. 

“Whatever. It wouldn't do any good. I knew you'd be playing way sooner than you should, I might as well yell at water for being wet. There wasn't any question that you'd do this. Besides, you know you shouldn't be doing it, I know it and you ought to have known that I wouldn't be surprised to find you doing just that. I don't like wasting my breath.” Sanji answers smoothly. 

“I don't know, you usually waste your breath all the time, I just tune you out.” Zoro says lightly. Sanji elbows him sharply in the side, earning an 'oof' of pain from Zoro. 

Zoro and he lay there for a little while in the kind of comfortable silence that Sanji has grown accustomed to. Zoro doesn't often ramble when he has nothing to say, he's more inclined to stay thoughtfully quiet if he's not just teasing Sanji for kicks. At first that trait had made Sanji worried, was Zoro getting bored with him? But by now he knows that it's just how Zoro is, he's not one to waste words on idle chatter just to fill the silence. The moments of quiet between them are almost comforting to Sanji now. 

He went through a good few weeks of constantly asking Zoro what he was thinking about and getting annoyed responses before he cottoned onto that idea. Maybe Sanji's just a romantic sap but he likes it now, he likes the idea that Zoro trusts that Sanji gets the important shit between them enough that Zoro doesn't need to say anything. Like, perhaps what they have is so deep, so important, that words just couldn't do it justice. Or, hell, maybe Sanji's just fantasising and Zoro's really just thinking of video games or contemplating chords. Who knows?

“Have you noticed that you almost never stutter around me any more? It's almost always around other people, or when you're stressed.” Zoro comments after a little while, his sudden entrance back into speaking almost startling Sanji. 

“I- I h-hadn't.” Sanji stammers out, his face heating at the embarrassment of doing just that when Zoro had just said about it. 

“Aw, I think it's cute.” Zoro smirks, leaning up on his elbow and looking down at Sanji. 

“Don't call me cute you bastard!” Sanji yells indignantly, his voice staying thankfully steady this time. 

“Awww. Kawaii~” Zoro teases, his voice sickly sweet and with a sing-song quality to it. Zoro doesn't often lap into the Japanese of his father's native tongue, Sanji's never asked just how much Japanese Zoro knows. Topics to do with his father are a conversational dead zone where nothing good lives. 

“Gee, is that Japanese for 'I'm a stupid bastard'?!” Sanji snarls at him. 

“Oh Sanji, you're not a stupid bastard.” Zoro grins back. 

“I MEANT YOU!” Sanji howls and shoves him over angrily. Zoro explodes into laughter, even holding his stomach at the force of his cackles. 

“You little- I'll sh-show you!” Sanji snaps and rolls on top of Zoro. He shoves Zoro's head to the side and bites his neck, hard. 

Zoro stops laughing immediately as Sanji's teeth sink into the soft skin of his neck. He whines soft and tilts his head to the side. Sanji swallows, using the vacuum created by the action to tug more of Zoro skin into his mouth and bite down again. Zoro's hips buck softly under him. 

Sanji's always wary about this, after Baby at least, but Zoro has kind of a... a thing for pain. If Sanji bites him or claws at him then Zoro goes all weak at the knees. Sanji's never tried to surprise him with it or deny him an out if he doesn't want it, that's treating too close to Baby's treatment of him. But when it comes to consensual pain in this sort of situation it seems to push Zoro's buttons. It's a kink that Sanji is more than a little wary of and he's really interested as to what Doctor Merry will say when he finds out Zoro's thing for pain, especially after his history with Baby. He's not going to question it though, it's not his place. Nor is he going to try to psychoanalyse Zoro about it without his say so. Zoro's kinks are his own business and Sanji's not going to take away Zoro's control by telling him what he should think about them. 

Two hands grip at Sanji's hips and though Sanji notices that one is significantly weaker in it's grip than it's partner it still feels good to be held with some kind of symmetry. 

He releases his grip on Zoro's neck. He kisses the bite gently and licks across its now red and purple surface soothingly, getting another groan from Zoro as he does so. 

“And you bitch at me about mixed messages.” Zoro pants, eyeing Sanji through heavy lidded eyes. 

“Didn't I just tell you that I don't bitch?” Sanji snaps and glares at Zoro. He sits back a little, his hips grinding against Zoro's and creating a pleasant but teasing friction for both of them. 

“I... I don't know. I tuned you out.” Zoro smirks, his voice a little less steady than he'd like it to be. 

“Ugh, you're impossible.” Sanji huffs and rolls off of Zoro and back into the space beside him. 

A few months ago he would never have passed up an opportunity like that one to go all the way into having sex with Zoro. A few months with Zoro have cooled that inclination though. That isn't to say that he's less fond of sex with Zoro, or that he desires him less. He just likes being romanced into it a little more. Besides the emotional intimacy that moments like this can generate are just as pleasing. 

Zoro rolls onto his side and runs the fingers of his injured hand through the still short hair over Sanji's new scar. Sanji would have to be dim to not have noticed the regretful way that Zoro often looks at that scar, but Sanji can't say that he's any different with Zoro's arm. 

“Do things feel like they're getting more normal? Your speech is loads better, you're gonna start singing again soon, my cast is off... it's like she's fading into just a bad dream.” Zoro says softly. And yeah, that, that's the kind of thing that gives Sanji the emotional equivalent of a hard on. Zoro's all tough shell but his soft insides and that caring protective nature inside it... unf. Good god, being with Zoro is giving him really weird turn-ons. 

“It's not quite that easy, but... a little bit yeah. She doesn't have her claws in so deep any more. You should say what you just said to me to Doctor Merry, he'd be interested in that.” Sanji offers up. He can see the displeased face Zoro pulls out of the corner of his eye, he doesn't even have to look right at him to see it. 

“You know your face will stick that way if you pull that face.” Sanji teases. 

Zoro grumbles and shoves Sanji in the shoulder. He does drop that displeased face though. 

The two of them settle back into a comfortable silence again and Sanji is just starting to feel his eyelids growing heavy and think that it's warm and soft enough to just sleep on the bus rather than go back inside to sleep when Zoro speaks again. 

“I can't even remember the last time my fingers were too weak to press hard enough on the strings to hold a note. I was probably a little kid.” Zoro says, holding his hand up above his head and glaring at it as if that could make it do what he wants it to. 

“Well you did just break your arm and get the cast off today dumbass. It's gonna take time and physiotherapy to get back to normal.” Sanji says with a roll of his eyes. Zoro knows all of this and Sanji knows that Zoro knows all of this. It's a waste of air even telling him but Zoro apparently needs to hear it because he relaxes with a fed up sigh when Sanji says it. 

“But I want it to be better now.” Zoro says childishly. 

“Patience grasshopper.” Sanji responds, getting to his feet and stretching. 

“Don't call me grasshopper.” Zoro says with a scowl as he leans up on his elbows to give Sanji a thoroughly disapproving look. 

“Why not? You're green enough- hey!” Sanji yelps as Zoro flips himself up onto his feet and takes a swipe at him.

“How about mossy troll?” Sanji suggests with a laugh as he ducks another swing from Zoro and scampers down the stairs with Zoro hot on his heels. 

“Algae face?” He proposes and escapes from the bus with Zoro chasing him. 

“Moss ball!” Sanji jeers and sprints into the house. 

“Seaweed hair!” He shouts, sprinting up the stairs as Zoro thunders up behind him yelling threats and no doubt waking up the whole house in the process. 

“Mouldy mane?” Sanji says with a laugh, though he's really starting to scrape the barrel with nicknames here. The two of them burst into Sanji's bedroom and Zoro slams the door shut after himself and, with surprising strength for a man with a recently broken arm, hurls Sanji onto the bed with a bounce of springs.

“Oh oh! Woodland elf he- MMF!” Sanji is cut off when Zoro rips off his own shirt and stuffs it in Sanji's mouth. A swift hand seizes both of Sanji's and pins them hard onto the mattress. Zoro bends down and bites Sanji punishingly hard just under his ribs.

Zoro's hand slips under Sanji and grabs at his ass and squeezes it hard. Strong fingers whip Sanji's boxers down with some difficulty because Sanji's hardness is getting in the way of the band of them sliding down smoothly. Huh, when did that happen? 

“I'll show you.” Zoro growls menacingly in his ear. Sanji whines and nods his head fiercely as a strong knee forces its way between Sanji's legs and parts them. Sanji is only too happy to go along with that. He rocks his hips into Zoro's and tries to communicate 'yes please do show me' as best as he can with a t-shirt stuffed into his mouth. Consent is obviously super important but he really doesn't want Zoro to have to pull himself out of the rough and tough demeanour to check that Sanji really wants this. Besides he's suddenly needy enough for this himself that he's hardly exaggerating his desperation. 

“I've only shoved this in here to stop you mouthing off, but it's going to do nothing to stop you screaming the house down with what I'm doing to do to you. You're gonna have to look everyone in the eye tomorrow morning knowing that they've heard every sound from you.” Zoro promises sinfully in Sanji's ear. True to Zoro's word Sanji groans loudly and grinds against Zoro's thigh as much as his position will allow. 

They say that you learn something new every day and apparently today Sanji has learnt that he has a new kink himself. Zoro might be into pain but apparently Sanji's into being shoved around and controlled, or at least right now he is. 

Zoro was right though, it took several weeks for the bruises and bites to fade, for the rough fingerprints on his hips to vanish into pale skin and equally as long for Sanji to stop flushing tomato red every time one of the others teased him about quite how loud he'd been that night. Even Nami wasn't mad at having her sleep disturbed after how mortified Sanji was. He really shouldn't have let Zoro remove that shirt from his mouth, no matter how much Zoro wanted to hear him, and for everyone else to as well. 

 

On the morning when Sanji's bruises and hickeys have finally vanished he comes downstairs to find Zoro sprawled against a hallway wall, throwing and catching a ball with his injured hand like he's in the great escape. The ball bounces from the floor, off against the wall and back into Zoro's hand. It's part of his physiotherapy to work on repeated actions and the dexterity of his fingers. The doctors have allowed Zoro to star playing guitar again for a limited number of hours a day, not that Zoro hadn't already been doing just that. Sanji has to say that the mental boost from the improvement in his playing has done more for Zoro's recovery than the physical benefits have. 

“Feeling like Steve McQueen now are we? Going to tunnel out of the house? Or perhaps get a motorbike instead of a replacement bicycle?” Sanji teases with a grin. Zoro throws the ball slightly off centre and Sanji has to dodge it to stop it bouncing against his head. 

“Oops.” Zoro says innocently as if that had been anything other than deliberate.

“Whatever, shouldn’t you be off to your appointment with Doctor Merry? You'll be late by now surely?” Sanji questions, looking at his watch. Zoro usually walked or caught the bus, he said he preferred the time to think after his appointments but Sanji knew it was more likely to be time to calm his temper that Zoro needed. 

“Nah, Usopp's driving me. We're gonna go catch a film after and have dinner at that pizza place out of town and check out the arcade there. Don't make dinner or anything, we'll be pretty late.” Zoro says, standing up with a stretch and squeezing the tennis ball in his hand, exercising his grip. Zoro had been nothing but diligent with his physiotherapy work, eager as he was to get back to playing guitar at full strength. Their prize tour from the competition had been put on hold whilst he and Zoro recovered, but it couldn't be put off indefinitely. Zoro was clearly keen to get going again as soon as possible, Sanji himself was less so. The thought of stuttering through a song on stage was enough to give him nightmares. 

“Oh, well. Enjoy yourself with your shitty arcade food.” Sanji says instead, wrinkling up his nose at the mystery meat in the hotdogs that Zoro and Usopp would no doubt be scarfing down in the arcade after their pizzas. Goodness only knows what's in those things.

“We will.” Zoro answers in his best contrary voice before starting to throw the ball against the wall again. 

Sanji sighs and heads off to the kitchen to prepare an actually nutritious meal for dinner for the rest of the band. Perhaps a slow cooker recipe with lamb and Mediterranean vegetables, that'd be nice. 

He hears Zoro and Usopp leave when he's partway through the lamb chops but other than that he's more or less undisturbed. This is one of the reasons that he likes cooking, it's a time when he can be by himself, creating a beautiful dish and listening to good music without interruption. It always calms him right down, no matter what's been going on in his life. 

The doorbell buzzes just as Sanji is wiping his hands dry on a dish towel after washing up. With his sense of zen like calm still following him he walks through the mansion to the front door and opens it. A burly delivery guy stands on the other side, or one who looks very much like one at any rate. A green cap is perched on his head with “removals” written on it. In his hand is a large stiff guitar case that has stickers all over it. 

“Roronoa Zoro?” The guy asks in a bored voice, looking down at the notepad in his hand.

“Uh, no. He's out, but I'm his... partner. I can sign for a delivery for him if that's what that is.” Sanji says, hedging on exactly what to label his relationship with Zoro to a stranger. Sanji eyes the guitar. Zoro hadn't told him he was ordering a new guitar or a new case. Either way it doesn't look new or freshly shipped so he's pretty puzzled by the whole thing. 

“Whatever.” The guy says, his voice a little stiff and disapproving and Sanji can see a look of distaste on his face and quickly realises that he must be disapproving of the fact that he and Zoro are both guys. Sanji scowls back at the guy and mentally fucking dares him to say a word about it. 

Sanji huffs and signs the form, thinking all sorts of terrible things that he'd like to do to this presumptuous bigot. Mostly though he just wants him out of his space and signing this form is the thing that will get him gone the soonest. The guy eyeballs the signature as Sanji hands it back as if he suspects that Sanji might have somehow written in pink glittery ink and infected him with some kind of homo cooties just by touching it. Out of spite Sanji lets his fingers brush along the guy's as he hands the pad back and maintains eye contact that's a little too intense for the guy's liking. The guitar case is shoved in Sanji's chest and the delivery guy hightails it back into his van as fast as his short chubby legs can carry him. 

“Asshole.” Sanji snorts to himself and shuts the door with a slam. He hefts the guitar case in his hand and looks at it for a moment, it's certainly not one that he recognises and it actually feels quite heavy. Either way, Zoro can get it when he gets back from his junk food and arcade binge tonight. He'll just leave it in their- ah... his room until then. 

When Sanji drops the guitar case on the bed he takes the time to examine the stickers on the case. A lot of them seem to be quite old and tattered, as if the thing has seen heavy use. He peers curiously at the stickers and as he reads them one by one he realises that they're for small local music competitions, school ones, local fairs and the like. There's also stickers from some of Zoro's favourite bands stuck on there, shows he must have been to when he was younger. Right at the top of the case is a shipping label with Zoro's name and address on. The kind you stick to something if it's going on an airplane so that if your luggage gets separated from you it's not going to end up in the ether of lost luggage in the airport. Sanji can't help but smile as he traces his finger over the plethora of stickers, this thing is a veritable time capsule of Zoro's love of music. 

His curiosity and sentimentality entirely activated, Sanji settles himself down on the bed and moves to pop open the guitar case. Unfortunately the thing is locked with a small four digit combination lock. The blonde pouts, unhappy at being denied his peek into Zoro's past. 

Sanji chews his lip thoughtfully and eyes the little bronze combination lock. Zoro's a pretty forgetful person at times, so what would be something that he wouldn't be able to forget? Sanji moves the digits around until they display Zoro's birthday, and as the last number ticks into place the lock clicks open. He grins, too easy. 

With the lock cast aside Sanji pops open the fastenings on the side of the hard guitar case and opens it. A flash of colour assaults his eyes when he'd just been expecting a plain case inside. He looks in surprise at the inside of the case, the inside of the lid is entirely covered in photographs that have been carefully stuck there so not an inch of the original case can be seen. There's so many in there that some have even been stuck over with carefully cut pictures into the less interesting voids of the pictures below. 

Almost all of the pictures are of Zoro, ranging in age from a young teenager to quite recent. Sanji's fingers trace across the pictures. One of Zoro drinking a milkshake in a diner and staring out of the window, unaware of the camera. Another of Zoro and Usopp dancing together, clearly drunk, Zoro's older in that picture, perhaps only a year or so younger than he is now. There are some of Zoro asleep in bed, his bed head lit up in the dull morning light, a sight that Sanji is more than familiar with now. 

A sinking dread fills Sanji and his eyes start scanning for it until he finds it. A familiar flash of dark hair and dark eyes, pretty painted lips stretched into a smile. Baby with her arm around Zoro's neck, taking the picture herself with one arm outstretched to the camera. There's another, a strip of photos taken in a photo booth of the pair of them together, her pulling Zoro's face into an unwilling smile in the first few, Zoro batting her hand away in the third and the fourth him with a genuine laugh of amusement as she fake pouts. Zoro's not narcissistic enough to fill his own guitar case with pictures of himself, but someone else is obsessed enough with Zoro to do just that. 

Sanji looks down at the guitar, it's an acoustic. He picks it up and turns it over in his hands. It's strung wrong, or more accurately it's strung normally. All of Zoro's guitars are strung left handed, the inverse of most guitar players, but this one is set up for a right handed person. Underneath where the guitar was are books, guitar teaching books at reasonably high grades. The music is advanced, it'd be a cake walk for Zoro but it looks like someone who'd been learning for a few years. This is Baby's guitar, not Zoro's. He'd been teaching her. 

Sanji realises that he'd been holding his breath and lets it go in a whoosh, feeling himself get light headed at having held it for too long. Why was this sent here? Who...

Ok, no. That's a stupid question. Baby clearly sent this to Zoro, a way of shoving their shared past in his face, a way of getting under his skin. Her claws had finally been coming out of the two of them and now he's digging them right back in. 

Sanji's fingers tighten on the neck of the guitar as anger overcomes him. His instinct is to smash the guitar, to say fuck their past and stop her attempts at hurting him again. He doesn't though. His eyes wander to the pictures again and it's not hard to see that in pretty much all of these Zoro looks genuinely happy. Baby was a shitty girlfriend and a worse person but... Zoro wasn't miserable 100% of the time and no matter what Sanji does, no matter how much therapy Zoro goes through, no matter if they never see Baby again... she's always going to be part of his past. He's always going to have memories of her, life experiences that she was a part of. Sanji can't just erase that, no matter how much he might like to. 

He forces out a slow breath and tries to calm himself down. This isn't his guitar, it wasn't a delivery for him and he should just... let it go. He loosens his hold on the guitar's neck and moves to put it back in its case, but as he does so he jolts something from in between the guitar teaching books. It's the sudden flash of silver that makes him pause. 

He reaches out and picks up the object, it's a CD inside an envelope. 

Sanji pauses, one hand on the guitar that he was meaning to put back and another on the envelope and CD. This was all meant for Zoro, not for him but... well, how is Zoro going to react to getting back home and finding this? Baby sent this to him, it's an obvious jab at their shared past, a way of shoving in his face that she'll always be a part of him and perhaps a cheap attempt at getting him back. That's not what Zoro needs right now. Not at all. But perhaps that's not his call to make, perhaps he should just let this be and let Zoro deal with this himself. 

All the same, how many times has Sanji wished for a heads up on what it was that Baby was about to say or do to Zoro? If her message is on this CD then he can get just that and he'll know how best to support Zoro through it. If he thinks about it that way he's really got an obligation to look at it, right?

Sanji rests the guitar down on the edge of the bed and grabs his laptop off of his dresser drawer and pops open the CD drive. He settles himself on the bed and waits for it to load. It's a music file, nothing else. No message or anything, just one song sitting there. The folder that the song is sitting in however is named “I'm sorry, forgive me?” and that alone is enough to make Sanji grit his teeth in anger. 

He plugs in his headphones and double clicks the icon for the song. His mac boots up iTunes and starts playing the song. 

Acoustic guitar fills Sanji's ears, the music slow and lazy in the more retro style of some of Baby's older music. 

“Let's forget about the past,”

Baby croons in his ear, her voice husky from cigarettes. 

“'cause it can't be undone,  
I realise now,  
You're the only one,”

Was... was she really asking Zoro to forgive her? After all that she's done?! After trying to kill the both of them?! Did she really think that would work? Though really she had no reason not to think that, from what Zoro's told him it always has worked in the past. She says sorry enough, manipulates him enough and then he comes right back. 

“Let's forget about the past,  
I knew I was wrong,  
Give me one more chance,  
Take me back where I belong.”

The music picks up a little more and Baby's voice gains more power, clearly getting into the swing of her song now. 

“I did things that were wrong,  
I ran from pillar to post,  
Oh when you comin' home?   
Yeah, I've had my bitter dose,”

She did things that were wrong?! Yeah, like trying to kill him, to maim him over again and again. How dare she ask for forgiveness?! Did she not care even a little bit about what hearing this would do to Zoro? Zoro was already in therapy from the mental harm that she'd caused him, and that wasn't even taking into account the fact that he's only just got his cast off as a physical side effect of her harm to him. Baby doesn't care about that though, she cares about getting what she wants, about winning. 

Regardless of Sanji's overflowing temper the song continues unabated.

“Let's forget about the past,  
Our whole life's ahead,  
Let's start anew,  
And forget all that's been said,

Let's forget about the past,  
Our whole life's ahead,  
Let's start anew,  
And forget all that's been said.”

Sanji slams his laptop shut, his teeth clenched in anger. She was trying to get him back, to brush all that she'd done under the carpet. Never mind that she'd tried to kill him, surely Zoro could forget all of that, right?

Unable to contain his anger he leaps from the bed and begins to pace around the room like a caged animal, complete with snarls of rage. His eyes land back on the black guitar, a dark twin to Zoro's own white one. He snatches the instrument up and shoves it back in its case as if it was a poisonous snake. 

He understands now that nothing is going to stop Baby, not unless he puts a stop to her first. Sanji snaps the case shut, clicks the combination lock shut again and hefts the case back up off of the bed. He was going to put a stop to this and now. 

He storms down the stairs, floor after floor until he's back out in the hallway by the front door. He eyes the keys hanging on the rack. 

“Franky, I'm borrowing your car.” Sanji calls out and grabs the key off of the hook without waiting for permission or acknowledgement. Usually he'd drive his own car, but the person he's going to see is the one who is solely responsible for the fact that he is currently without a vehicle. 

As Sanji is going out of the door Franky's voice does catch up to him though. Saying something about where is he going, what's the hurry and where did he get that guitar? Sanji doesn't listen though and just leaves, making his way to Franky's vehicle and getting in. He switches on the ignition and guns the engine as he peels out of the driveway, the guitar in the passenger seat an ominous presence as he drives. 

Sanji of course knows the name of the mental health facility that Baby is being held at and some quick and completely illegal googling and driving route him in the right direction to get to it. The hour drive that it takes to get there does nothing to calm Sanji's rage. In fact it merely intensifies it as Sanji had an entire hour to go over and over again in his head all of the details of what Baby has ever done to Zoro, to mentally replay the song and plan out just what he was going to say to her when he came face to face with that witch. 

The mental health facility looks more like a private ranch than it does a loony bin, the only thing to clue you in otherwise is the large chain fence that reaches about nine foot in height, to stop inmates or whatever they're called from escaping. He is stopped at the gate and given a visitor pass after saying that he's there to visit a patient, after that he parks Franky's car up and gets out to survey the large stately building and the rolling lawn grounds to the building.

When he gets inside he smiles charmingly at the receptionist and tells her that he has some lost property of one of their inmates and could he see her to return it? He's left in the reception waiting area whilst a nurse goes to check if Baby will receive a visitor and Sanji busies himself with sweet talking the rest of the staff as he waits. By the time the nurse comes back Sanji is pretty sure that if she'd said that Sanji couldn't see her that the rest of the staff would protest at such a 'nice young man' not being allowed to see a patient. Thankfully that theory isn't tested as he's approved right away and led into a visiting room. 

The visiting room is relatively bare, a few small sofas scattered about the place that Sanji can't help but notice are bolted to the floor. Still, the place looks pleasant. An orderly ushers him in and instructs him to knock on the door when he's ready to leave, after that he locks Sanji inside. 

Sanji's hand tightens on the handle of the guitar case as he stands, too tense to sit, and waits for Baby to come in. When she does he's taken aback for a moment, she looks just like the girl he first met. Her hair is loose and natural and her clothes are simple and comfy rather than aimed at seduction. She has a flowing pink skirt that reaches the floor and a pastel blue t-shirt with a smiling ice cream cone on. 

He's not the only one who's thrown of course. As the door on her side of the room locks behind Baby she stands there in shock as she regards him, clearly it wasn't him that she'd been expecting to see. No, she probably expected that her vile package would draw Zoro here instead. Sanji grits his teeth and throws the guitar case at her, she catches it with a stumble and a surprised noise. 

“You can keep this!” Sanji barks at her, his temper flaring. 

“My guitar! Where- have you been in my house?!” Baby demands furiously, her eyes shining with anger as she glares Sanji down. 

“Don't play dumb, you mailed it to Zoro.” he says shaking his head, he didn't come here for a round of denial and faux innocence. 

“I'm not. I've not mailed anything to anyone, least of all Zoro.” she says defensively as she turns to place the guitar case on the sofa. She pops the lock open and flicks the lid to check the guitar inside. Her fingers run over the strings and the frets as to check that it's all okay and that Sanji hadn't damaged it by throwing it, not that Sanji would care if he did. 

“It's got Zoro's name and our address on the front, you mailed it.” Sanji points out firmly. 

Baby doesn't respond to this right away, instead she just shuts the case and runs her finger over the sticker with Zoro's name and address on it as if in thought. 

“They must have thought it was his. Doffy and his crew are helping me move across country. I decided that I can't live here any more and when I get out I'm moving across to the coast. I can start my career again there. They must have seen Zoro's name and address on it and decided to ship it to him to avoid him having to chase me for something they thought was his.” Baby says, her voice calm as she runs her fingers over the stickers on the outside of the case. 

“You're moving?” Sanji asks, the note of pleased excitement evident in his voice. If she's going to be hundreds of miles away from them then Zoro will surely be better off!

“Gee, could you look a little less happy about it? I'm not sure the message really got through there.” Baby says, her eyes narrowed angrily. 

“Sorry.” Sanji apologises on reflex, though he doesn't really mean it. He is pleased that she's leaving, nothing can change that. 

“So besides jumping to conclusions and assuming that I was sending my ex my guitar, what did you come here for? I'm assuming that this isn't a social visit.” She asks, settling herself down on the sofa and regarding Sanji with a dispassionate stare. 

Sanji grits his teeth and puts his hands on the back of the sofa facing Baby, he doesn't want to sit down with her like they're having a pleasant little chat.

“I came here to tell you to stop sending him shit to get under his skin. He's lucky that I got to this before he got home. Stay away from him, you've done enough damage. If you really are moving across the country then great, stay there, far away from Zoro.” Sanji says firmly. 

Baby looks slightly surprised for a moment before her face splits into a slow and predatory grin that sends shivers running up Sanji's spine. He doesn't like that expression on her. 

“That's very interesting.” She purrs darkly, resting back in her chair with her arms spread out on the back. She looks cocky and confident and Sanji doesn't like it one bit. 

“What?” Sanji demands, taking the bait. He knows she wants him to ask that but if he doesn't ask he knows that he'll just stay awake at night wondering what it was that she was going to say. 

“Oh, nothing. Just as part of my treatment here they've been working on lots of things with me. Therapy to deal with my past, anger management and – most relevantly here, recognising abusive behaviour.” She says lightly, inspecting her nails with an air of indifference that has to be entirely put on. 

“Good, you need it.” he shoots back.

“Oh, burn.” she snorts, rolling her eyes. 

“No, what I was getting at was the details of the list. Controlling who your partner can and can't see, intercepting other people's contact with them, deciding that you know what's best for them...” She says, her eyes boring into Sanji's mind. 

Shit, is she really accusing him of being controlling and abusive? After all that she's done to Zoro she has the gall to accuse him of THAT?!

“You have got to be shitting me. I'm telling you to stay away from Zoro because last time you were anywhere near us you tried to murder us. I'm not controlling him, I'm protecting him!” Sanji snarls furiously. His nails start to bite into the sofa fabric as he restrains himself from doing something that he'll regret. He's conscious of the fact that there are orderlies outside of the doors and if they hear a huge commotion Sanji will probably be kicked out. 

“Because you know what's best for him, of course. Sounds pretty controlling to me.” she says in a sing-song voice. 

“You tried to murder him, you tried to cut his eye out with a knife, I've patched up more injuries from you than I care to count. You don't get to tell me that I'm abusive after you've done all of that.” He says, his voice low and dangerous. 

“Well maybe Zoro has a type.” She says airily. 

Something Sanji said must have got to her though as she breaks eye contact with him and looks off at the barred window across the room. 

“I didn't mean all of that stuff. I regret all of it. Zoro and I never should have... well, that's why I'm moving.” Baby says quietly. 

Sanji frowns suspiciously, is that a trap? Is she trying to con him like she did in court? After all, that's why she's in here rather than serving time for attempted double homicide. 

“I don't buy that shit your lawyer pulled in court. You belong in prison not here, you planned what you did, you're not sick.” Sanji says suspiciously. He walks around the sofa and settles down, he doesn't want her to think that she's made him anxious and stressed, even if it is true. 

“It's not that simple.” Baby sighs, resting her chin on the heel of her palm and looking out of the window with a faraway look in her eyes. 

“I'll admit that when my lawyer decided to pull the whole 'not in control of my actions' thing that I thought it was just a good way of getting off without charges. But... since I've been here I've come to realise that I needed this. I needed treatment.” She says quietly. 

“Bullshit, you knew what you were doing. That wasn't a suicide attempt when you drove your car at us, that was a murder attempt.” Sanji snaps back, tired enough of having heard that in court, he doesn't need to hear it again. 

“It was both. I wanted to kill him because you two had made it clear that I wasn't getting him back, you'd won. But... if I couldn't have him I didn't see why you should have, and I wanted to punish him for leaving me. But I didn't want to live without him either. It was complicated. I'd thought it through but I wasn't thinking right, I've still got bits of that night missing and bits where I can't remember what I was thinking. It's not as black and white as you think, I planned it but I was sick too.” Baby says, looking at Sanji again for the first time in a while. 

Sanji's hands snap shut. He always knew it was deliberate, but hearing her admit out loud that she'd planned to kill them, that she'd really meant it... it's another thing entirely. Baby continues talking in his silence. 

“I've had a fucked up life and gone through a lot of rough shit, I'm not well but... well, they keep trying to tell me here that I can't just palm off all of the responsibility for what I've done onto my illnesses. They say that even though they made me impulsive and unbalanced enough to do those things I still chose to do them.” She explains. 

“Exactly what are you supposedly sick with then?” Sanji asks stiffly, he doesn't like where this is going. It feels like she's trying to claim that she's not bad for what she did. 

“That.” Baby says stiffly, shooting him a hard glare, “is none of your goddamn business.” 

“Considering as your apparent illnesses nearly got me killed I'd say it is!” He argues back.

“No, I might owe you an apology for what I did but that doesn't grant you the right to know everything about me.” She hisses at him. 

“You 'might' owe me an apology?” Sanji gawps at her, horrified. Baby actually has the decency to wince at that. 

“That didn't come out right. I do owe you an apology, but I'm not supposed to give one until I feel I can really mean it and right now I don't. Besides, I don't think you'd accept one from me right now anyway.” She reasons. 

“Considering that Zoro's only just got out of his cast I'd say you're right.” Sanji states flatly. She'd taken Zoro's biggest love away from him, hopefully temporarily but still. And no, Sanji doesn't mean himself but rather Zoro's ability to play his guitar, that's what means the most to Zoro. 

Sanji is surprised to see Baby look genuinely remorseful as she leans back into the couch and pulls her feet up onto the chair with her, curling into herself in a subconscious attempt to protect and comfort herself. Sanji hates himself for it but he just can't get a read on her, he never knows if she's being sincere or if she's trying to manipulate him. Knowing her it's probably the latter but he just can't be sure. 

“You really think I'm evil don't you?” She says after the silence between them has stretched out for a while. 

Sanji hesitates before replying. Before all of this he'd never believed that anyone was truly evil, but he'd never been unfortunate enough to experience it first hand the way that he has with her. But would be go so far as to call her evil? Goodness knows he's thought it often enough about her, but can he really say it to her face? Is she even actually evil? It's such a strong word, usually the kind of thing reserved for serial killers and genocidal dictators. Compared to that Baby's actions don't seem so bad. Then Sanji remembers the split lips, the bleeding nose and the completely broken way that Zoro would hold himself when she spoke to him. She took someone as strong as Zoro and shattered him beneath her stilettoed feet

“I guess that answers that question.” She says softly, closing her eyes and sighing. 

“I don't know.” Sanji admits with a shrug. 

“You're not exactly nice. You've been cruel and violent and I'm not sure I'll ever forgive you for what you've done to Zoro. But you're the one who has to live with you, not me.” Sanji answers. 

He knows that Zoro thinks that Baby has her good points, that she's not all bad and that there was at least a large part of her once that was great and that he loved. He remembers all of those pictures of Zoro looking happy and believes that Zoro genuinely was happy in those moments. But Baby would never have taken pictures of Zoro bleeding on her floor, or if she did she wouldn't display them. He suspects that Zoro is closer to the truth than either he or Baby is. Baby seems to think that she was a victim of her unnamed illnesses and Sanji feels like she's rotten to the core, they're probably both a little right and if anything Zoro's view of her as a mean and untilmately flawed person is probably more accurate. 

The last thing that Sanji wants to do though is to tell Baby that Zoro doesn't share his opinion of her as being entirely terrible and perhaps evil. He doesn't know if she's fishing for information on him or still trying to get him back, he doesn't want to give her any hope of that ever happening. 

“You think that this is all my fault, right? Like I'm some wicked witch and you're the hero of this whole story. Zoro's not your princess and he's not innocent either.” Baby says sharply, looking at him with her penetratingly dark eyes. 

“If you even th-think of trying to blame Zoro for what you did to him-” Sanji starts, the fury rising up inside of him again. 

“He is responsible! At least in part! He could have left me the first time I hurt him!” Baby points out, jabbing her finger in Sanji's direction. 

“Hurt him? Hurt him? Let's not use euphemisms h-here Baby! The you mean the first time you took someone who loved you and beat the shit out of him. When you punched him, slapped him, kicked him and g-god knows what else!” Sanji yells. He's getting so emotional and wound up now that he's starting to lose control of his speech and he's sure Baby has noticed. She seems more intent on his words than the delivery though and she thankfully doesn't say anything about it. 

“It's not all my fault ok?! Sometimes he was just deliberately asking for-” Baby cuts herself off, and it's a good thing too because Sanji's lifelong rule of never hurting a woman is a hair's breadth from breaking right now. The temptation to just leap up and crash his foot into her jaw, to shut her up from all the shit that she's saying... it's just too strong. 

But instead of continuing Baby shakes her head and tangles her fingers in her hair.

“I don't mean that. I know he didn't ask for it, or deserve it or... or anything. I'm trying to change how I think, I really am but-” She says, her voice sounding choked. 

“But what?” Sanji asks through gritted teeth. His fingers are clasped so hard on the edge of the sofa to keep him there and away from her that he can feel his knuckles turning white from the tension. 

“It's not like I had anything- it's not like I ever had any different shown to me. My... my father... if you could call him that, not that he deserved the title after what he did to me. He used to do the same to me when I was growing up. My whole life with him was walking around terrified of next time he'd get set off from the slightest little thing and I'd end up black and blue.” Baby says, her voice uneven and full of emotion. She curls into her knees a little more, looking hurt and unhappy. 

“So, what? You decided that you'd had enough of being the victim and you wanted to be the one on the other side of the fist for a change? You should have known better, if you knew how terrible it was to be attacked by someone you love then why would you do it to someone else? Why to Zoro? Zoro told me that he saved you from your father and nearly died doing it! Why would you hurt him of all people?” Sanji demands. After all that Zoro had done for her Baby betrayed him thoroughly. 

“I know I was wrong, ok? I shouldn't have done it but I'm a fucked up person ok? I've had a shit life and I've made shitty choices. But it's not all me, I never knew how to deal with things without lashing out or how to love someone properly without violence. No one ever loved me without violence, how am I supposed to without that?” Baby demands of him. 

“You're wrong, you've been loved without violence. Zoro loved you.” Sanji says flatly. There's nothing to be gained from talking to her, maybe she's putting this whole thing on as an act or maybe she's starting to realise that she really is, as she put it “fucked up”, but she's still blaming other people and other things for her own cruelty. Sanji can't even begin to forgive her or think of her as anything other than a threat until she actually accepts everything she did without excuses. He stands up to go only to be halted by the sound of tears. 

“He did. He did and I lost it all because- oh god.” Baby sobs into her hands. 

Sanji freezes. He doesn't know if these tears are real or crocodile tears put on to manipulate him, it's certainly not out of the question that she could be trying to pull his strings like that. 

“I love him, I do. I'd give anything to have him back.” Baby wails, her voice somewhat muffled through her hands. 

“That's not happening.” Sanji answers quickly. No way would Zoro manage to go back to her now that everyone knows the details of what happened when they were together. 

“I know that!” She shouts at him and scrubs at her eyes. “That doesn't mean I don't want him!” 

“I know I was bad for him, I tried to leave him several times when I was clear headed enough to see how much damage I was doing. I tried, I did. I didn't want him to go through what I had to go through. He'd never let me leave him though, when I tried he'd follow me, he'd call me all the time, send me songs, beg me to stay with him. He'd say it was his fault or that he forgave me. I'm not the only fucked up person here, Zoro is too.” Baby says firmly, she's staring Sanji down and he's got the unshakable feeling that she's never ever going to budge on this issue. 

“What's that supposed to mean? That this is Zoro's fault again?” he challenges her, he can't believe that she's got the audacity to try that again. 

“It means that Zoro's fucked up too. He's terrified of being abandoned and the idea makes him desperate and crazy. Haven't you noticed how he's still friends with everyone he bonded with as a kid? His sister died and left him alone, so did his mother and his father didn't want him anymore and abandoned him. Zoro's got issues.” She says pointedly. 

Sanji wants to call her a liar, to call her out on maligning Zoro. But, well, the supposed evidence that she's offering up isn't exactly wrong. That doesn't make her right though but still. 

“Even if that's true, I find it hard to believe that that Zoro would be so desperate to hold onto you after what you've done to him.” Sanji argues back. A voice in the back of his head though is reminding Sanji of all the times when Zoro brushed off what Baby did to him, how she hurt him, how her cruelty was just how she was. Zoro hadn't been eager to leave her right away had he? But there's a big difference between not being happy to leave her and not wanting her to leave him. But then he recalls how sullen Zoro had been when the papers were full of stories about Baby getting off with random guys in a club. Had he been unhappy about the thought of her leaving him even then? Sanji is getting filled up with doubt from his toes to his head. 

“Fine, I'll prove it to you. I must have some of the songs that he wrote me begging for me to come back.” Baby says and flicks the guitar case open again. She rummages for a few moments and flicks through several papers and books before producing a sheet of paper for Sanji. She shoves it in his hand and pulls her guitar out. She runs her fingers over the strings and quickly tunes it by ear, just as Sanji's seen Zoro do a million times. He balks, is she really going to play this for him?!

His eyes fall to the paper as Baby acts almost as if he isn't there, so absorbed is she in tuning her guitar. The first thing Sanji notices about the paper is that it's Zoro's messy handwriting all over it. It's his signature way of writing music, with tabs and lyrics jumbling into one perfect representation of music. Zoro wrote this alright.

Sanji's eyes scan the tune and the lyrics and he's struck with the notion that he doesn't recognise this song at all. He's listened to every song that Zoro and the others ever recorded before he joined and this isn't one of them. Whatever happened with this song it doesn't seem like it was shown to anyone other than Baby. 

The song is named lullaby and at the top, separate from the lyrics is a message from Zoro. As Sanji reads it his heart sings. 

“Baby, don't leave me. We complete each other.” 

Baby reaches out and plucks the paper from Sanji's hands. Apparently her memory for music isn't as perfect as Sanji and Zoro's. Her fingers pluck out the notes and Sanji can hear that it's got Zoro's fingerprints all over it, but it's not written for Sanji's voice, it's written for a higher voice, for Baby's voice. She starts singing, smooth, sweet and slow.

“Baby, sing me to sleep.  
Painful memories when you say that you need me.  
You save me from leaving things that I might need,  
But the missing piece is out of my reach,”

Sanji feels it like a kick in the gut. This is without a doubt Zoro and he knows how to read Zoro's meaning in his lyrics enough to have come to the conclusion that Baby was telling him even if she hadn't said a word. This is Zoro saying that their relationship hurts but that he needs her, that she completes him. Baby plays on, her eyes on the paper but her hands moving with muscle memory and her strong voice, the voice that's the rival for Sanji's, continuing on flawlessly.

“But I don't mind if you can't be with me all of the time.  
So be on your way. No, that is not what I wanted to say.  
I just want you, no, I need you to stay.”

She... she was right. Zoro hadn't wanted her to go, at all. Even when he stood a chance of being free he chose to go back to her, to pull her back to him, knowing all of the marks that she'd left on him, the times that she'd hurt him. Why... why would he do that? But Baby's answer rings in his ears, Zoro is just as fucked up as she is. That's why both of them are seeing shrinks. 

“Baby, sing me to sleep.  
Drunken melodies when you say that you love me.  
Well, maybe I need a guarantee,  
'Cause the way you speak, you're scaring me.”

Sanji's heart aches. He can't bring himself to be mad at Zoro. Despite what Baby wants him to think, this isn't his fault. No matter whether or not he begged for her back it still didn't mean that he was asking for her to hurt him like that. Baby's wrong about that much. 

“But I don't mind if you can't be with me all of the time.  
So be on your way. No, that is not what I wanted to say.  
I just want you, no, I need you to stay.”

Baby doesn't seem to care in the slightest about Sanji's mental turmoil. She's picking up the speed of the song and the tone like she's performing it on stage instead of alone to her ex's current boyfriend. 

“And I know, I know that it won't be long  
'Till you a-running, righting the wrongs  
Ignoring the light to swallow the fright  
To make it in time to keep me safe tonight.”

Sanji shuts his eyes and almost tunes Baby out. The important question here is does this change anything? There were always going to be big blank patches of Zoro and Baby's relationship that he didn't know about and perhaps never would, he could deal with that, even if the answers weren't the ones he wanted. 

Zoro might be more messed up than Sanji had realised right away but he'd be a shit boyfriend if that meant that he was going to jump ship on Zoro now. Zoro was getting help and Sanji was supporting him with that, backing him up and making him able to help himself. He couldn't wave a magic wand and cure everything bad that had ever happened to Zoro, no one could, but Baby shoving Zoro's damaged parts in his face wouldn't do a goddamn thing to push them apart. 

He doesn't know if that's what she's doing here or if she's genuinely grasping at straws to find someone else to blame for her shitty behaviour, be it her father or Zoro himself. Either way it doesn't matter, nothing has changed. 

Regardless of what's going on in his head Baby keeps singing and finishes her song. 

“Baby, sing me to sleep.  
No apologies when you say that you love me.

But I don't mind if you can't be with me all of the time.  
So be on your way. No, that is not what I wanted to say.  
I just want you, no, I need you to stay.”

She finishes and looks up at Sanji, her face almost a perfect picture of 'see?' as if she'd won some kind of bet against Sanji. 

“He didn't want me to leave him.” She reiterates just in case Sanji had missed that part by being somehow brain dead. She shoves the lyrics sheet into his hand like an eviction notice, please vacate the premises of Zoro immediately. Sanji holds the sheet in his hand and thinks for a moment before responding. 

“Doesn't matter. You still chose to hurt him, it's not his fault. Zoro's better off without you and you know he is. I came her to give you your guitar back and to tell you to stay away from us. If you're really getting help and this isn't all fake then great, and if you're really moving away then that's even better. I'm going.” Sanji shrugs. 

This quite clearly was not the reaction that Baby had expected from him. She leaps to her feet, dropping her guitar with a clang that would send Zoro into a fit of 'how dare you treat a guitar that way' rage. Yet another difference between her and him. She grabs his arm as he goes to leave. 

“You're not like us, you're normal.” Baby accuses, practically spitting the word at him. 

“You're not broken like we are, you can't understand him like I could, like I can. We were both fucked up but we mended each other's weaknesses, we needed each other.” She says tauntingly, her dark eyes flashing at him. 

Sanji pauses at that and looks at Baby. She clearly thinks that she's won with that parting shot. She hasn't. She hasn't because she's wrong and also because this isn't a game. Zoro's not a prize or an idea, he's a person. 

“I'm his boyfriend.” Sanji says simply. 

“I know that.” Baby says flatly, sounding irritated.

“My point is that I'm not his doctor, I'm not his therapist, I'm not his keeper and my job isn't to fix him. Any damage you've done to him or his past has done to him... that's not my job to fix. I'm not with Zoro because he needs me, frankly I don't think I could even know where to begin to help him.” Sanji says calmly. 

Baby's mouth spreads into a lipstick red grin. 

“You're right Zoro needed you then, so he couldn't leave and he apparently couldn't deal with you leaving. I don't want that. Zoro's the only person who can fix himself, not me. I don't want him to be with me or stay with me because he needs me, I want him to be there because he wants to be. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be chosen than be a necessary price to pay like you were.” He says easily. 

Baby's hand pulls away from him as if he'd burnt her. She's shocked and hurt, reeling from his words. Sanji knocks on the window to get the orderly to let him out before Baby flicks from shock to rage and decides to rearrange his face. The orderly opens the door and Sanji is out the other side before she can react. By the time she screams and hurls herself at the door Sanji is through the other side and halfway down the hallway. 

 

Sanji walks into the house with the sheet of lyrics folded into his back pocket and burning a hole through his jeans into his insides. He still stands by what he said to Baby. Her understanding of Zoro and what a healthy relationship is can only be described as entirely warped, but even so Sanji was happier before he knew that Zoro had pretty much begged for her back. He shuts the front door behind him and leans on it for a few seconds with his eyes closed. The sounds of the house filter into his ears, the soft sounds of the TV and conversation floating through the air, distant music coming from speakers upstairs and the occasional burst of Luffy's laughter. He's ok, he's home. 

He hangs Franky's keys back up on the hook and resolves to apologise to him later for essentially carjacking him today, he can't wait until the insurance company finally finishes processing his claim and gives him the money for a new flatbed for him, or at least a very nice pre-owned one. 

With weary legs and a worn out heart he heads upstairs, up and up until he reaches the floor that belongs to him and Zoro alone. Yes, he owes Franky an apology but right now that can wait, he just wants to get to his bed and flop face down. 

As he makes it onto the landing of his and Zoro's floor though he's interrupted by soft notes of music that halt his tired feet. 

Sanji pauses, head cocked, trying to locate the sound. It's coming from the left, from Zoro's room where the door is slightly ajar. He listens intently, trying to place the strains of the music, but the more he hears the more he realises that he doesn't know this song, Zoro is writing. One of the notes twangs and rattles harshly against the fretboard, warping the sound and hissing in metallic anger at not being depressed against the wood hard enough. Zoro swears none too quietly. 

Sanji pushes the door open softly and comes inside Zoro's room. The place is a wreck as always. Despite the fact that Zoro has been more or less living in Sanji's room since the day that Sanji returned from the hospital Zoro has still managed to mess his room up. Clothes lay strewn across the place, plectrums litter more or less every flat surface along with loose paper and writing utensils of all kinds. Zoro has been known to write tablature and lyrics on his own skin if no other surface is available and so even the rest of the house is regularly dotted with notepads. Sanji steps over a pair of boots strewn in the middle of the floor and makes his way inside. In the centre of the chaos, facing his bed, Zoro sits on the floor, his legs crossed under him indian style with his precious white acoustic cradled in his lap. 

“What h-happened to the arc-arcade?” Sanji asks in a stammer. 

“Usopp ate a bad hotdog. He's probably still hurling his guts out downstairs.” Zoro says airily. He rolls his wrist this way and that in the manner the physio taught him before placing his fingers back on the fretboard, he quickly runs through a scale but before he can get through to the end of it the notes start slipping again. His fingers are trembling from the strain and they can't hold the strings down. 

Sanji pulls the guitar gently from Zoro's hands and places it softly on the bed. He climbs into Zoro's lap in its place and settles his butt in the gap in Zoro's folded legs. His long legs wrap around the small of Zoro's back and his arms wind their way around Zoro's neck. He presses his forehead into the juncture of Zoro's neck and shoulder and breathes Zoro in. 

“Sor-sorry to hear that.” Sanji manages.

“It's fine.” Zoro shrugs, his hands resting lightly on the small of Sanji's back. 

“I-I s- I saw- I-” Sanji struggles before hissing in annoyance. He's been so much better lately and he'd even been clearer than this when he was with Baby in person. Yet now when he's at home with Zoro his voice is abandoning him. Zoro's arms tighten gently around him and some tension bleeds out of Sanji's body. 

“I went there.” He says, managing those three words and nothing else. Sanji fishes the lyrics sheet out of his back pocket and hands it to Zoro, leaning back in his lap to be able to do so. Zoro takes the folded sheet from him, flicks it open and doesn't even look at it, his eyes just on Sanji. 

“Huh.” Zoro says absently. 

“What?” Sanji questions with a frown. Isn't Zoro going to even look at what Sanji just gave him. 

“Hn, nothing. I guess I just wasn't expecting you to tell me that you'd been to see her. I guess I'm too used to her playing head games with me that I just expected it. I figured you'd lie.” Zoro says easily, flicking the piece of paper behind him onto his bed and resting his hands back on Sanji's hips and lower back again. 

Sanji blinks a few times at Zoro in dumb surprise. 

“How'd you... know?” Sanji asks in surprise.

“Well, you stole Franky's car and stormed out with her guitar case that hadn't been here before. That and you had a CD in your laptop that you shouldn't have had.” Zoro says simply. 

“Oh.” Sanji blinks in surprise. He hadn't been planning on lying about his trip to Zoro, but if he had it seems that there was no way that Zoro wouldn't have known about it. If Zoro had been expecting him to lie would Zoro have called him out on it or just dealt with it as that was what he'd “expected”?

“Not that I was snooping or anything! I wanted to fuck with your iTunes so that it'd change your music library to nothing but the Nyan cat song.” Zoro amends hastily, looking slightly worried that Sanji might be upset.

“HEY! That's even worse! Oh god, now it's in my head!” Sanji wails, jamming his hands over his ears as if it could possibly shut out the repetitive tune now blaring full blast inside his skull as his perfect musical memory replays every saccharine synthetic note to him over and over. 

“Are... are you mad that I went to see her?” Sanji asks uneasily, shifting in Zoro's lap as a flush of guilt creeps up the back of his neck. 

“You can do what you want, I'm not your boss or anything. You don't have to ask me permission for shit.” Zoro says giving a definite non-answer delivered with a shrug that's far to casual to be natural. 

“That wasn't what I asked you. Are you upset that I went to see her?” He asks again. 

Zoro purses his lips and blows out his cheeks, looking incredibly childish for a moment. He lets the air out in a sigh and finally answers.

“A bit. You didn't tell anyone where you were going, just rushed off like an idiot. She baited you there and you just took it and ran with it. I know that she's got people guarding her but she could have attacked you or said something to really warp you. I'm kinda pissed that you didn't think about it, but I know she's good at manipulating people like that, so it's not entirely your fault I guess.” Zoro answers honestly. Sanji remembers that it wasn't too long ago that Zoro was running to her every beck and call. 

“I suppose it was a little bit dumb.” He admits aloud and feels Zoro's hands give him a reassuring squeeze around his hips, Zoro's not mad, he was probably just irked when he worked out where Sanji had gone off to. 

“And she wasn't manipulating me there. The guitar got sent here by mistake because it had your name on it. She said that...” Sanji trails off. Zoro's fixing him with a 'really?' look that makes Sanji's words dry up in his throat. 

“Well, that's what she said.” He adds meekly. He's got no proof that it was actually the case and that Baby didn't somehow do it to get one of them there, he'd just started to buy into her story just by how surprised she looked to see him. Damn, he didn't know if she was that good at pulling people's strings or if it really was just an accident.

“I don't wanna know jack shit about what she said. She's not getting in my head and she's not getting in yours either. I'm done.” Zoro grumbles and flops backwards onto the floor next to his bed. 

“Sounds like a good idea.” Sanji agrees, settling on the floor by Zoro's side. He lays on his front and after a few moments he takes hold of Zoro's hand. He runs the pads of his fingers gently over each of the little scars where the pins went into Zoro's arm. One by one he stretches Zoro's fingers back and rubs at the tight tendons, only going so far as Zoro's body language tells him to. He works over each stiff joint and muscle, taking his time and sending blood flow to the still recuperating limb. 

It's nice, having the time to think over everything that Baby told him and everything that he knows about Zoro. He stands by what he said to Baby. He's not Zoro's shrink and there's fuck all he can do about Zoro's issues, he can't just wave a magic wand and erase all of what Baby did to him over the years. Maybe it'll all heal up and Zoro will never think about it again, or maybe it'll be more like Zoro's arm, where it'll heal and work just fine, but here and there will be small marks and memories of the damage that was there before. Who knows? 

He's not Zoro's shrink in the same way that he's not Zoro's physiotherapist. He doesn't know how best to help him through what he's been through any more than he can prescribe physical treatment and make sure Zoro doesn't overwork his hand. What he can do is what he's doing now though, being there when he can and helping Zoro work out the kinks and soreness when it comes up. He can be there if Zoro has nightmares or when he can't sleep, he can help Zoro write songs that have nothing to do with her, or the songs that bleed painful memories out from his psyche. He can assist, but ultimately it's Zoro's job to heal himself. 

Sanji smiles, feeling at peace with himself, with Zoro and at the world as a whole. He looks over at Zoro and sees the man staring up at the ceiling, looking lost in thoughts of his own. Sanji wonders if Zoro's come to the same conclusion as him, whether he's decided to really devote himself to the therapy that he went to today. 

“What're you thinking?” He asks Zoro softly, resting Zoro's hand back on the floor gently and pillowing his head on Zoro's bicep so that he can cuddle close and look at him. 

“Nnn, it's nothing.” Zoro grunts, shaking his head. 

“No, come on, tell me. I want to know.” Sanji says with a smile, what kind of sweet little thoughts could Zoro be thinking. 

“Well...” Zoro starts slowly, “I was just wondering what the hell is even in a hotdog anyway?” 

“Seriously?!” Sanji squawks indignantly. That wasn't the sweet nothing he'd been hoping for! Why the hell was Zoro even thinking about that?! Sanji springs to his feet and moves to leave Zoro's room in a huff, the idiot completely ruined the moment!

“Oi! You asked!” Zoro yells after him but Sanji just kicks Zoro's door shut and goes back into his own room. 

He loves Zoro, he really does, but sometimes he's an annoying unromantic ass with no sense of when romantic moments are happening or what to do! He sighs and spreads himself down on his bed. No sense of timing, that's Zoro's problem. 

Having resigned the moment as being thoroughly lost Sanji picks up his laptop and opens it up, fully on board for some mindless internet surfing to take his mind off of the whole day. As he flicks open his laptop the speakers suddenly blast out music, nearly startling Sanji out of his skin.

“NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN NYAN!”

Sanji eventually manages to shut off the damn music player, his ears are still ringing from the music, if one could call it that, but it does nothing to muffle the sound of Zoro laughing hysterically from the next room. 

 

A/N: So, there's still some more to come of this fic, one last chapter and perhaps a little epilogue to follow. The songs this time were Let's Forget About the Past by the Detroit Cobras, Lullaby by Julia Nunes and uh... Nyan Cat by uh... the internet?


	23. Chapter 23

“Guess what day it is.” Zoro says into Sanji's ear as the guitarist slides into bed with Sanji. 

It's early, too early for Sanji to be precise. It's the one day of the week when he doesn't have to get up to make people breakfast and he'd really been hoping for a later wake up than this. He buries his face in his pillow and groans. 

“It's my day off.” He growls into the pillow. 

“True, so I brought you coffee as black as your mood.” Zoro responds, climbing over Sanji and shoving him to the side of the bed closest to his bedside table. 

Sanji grumbles, sitting up bleary eyed and picking up the coffee from the bedside table. When he first moved in here the room was pristine and white, every surface painted and flawlessly decorated. Now there are coffee rings on Sanji's bedside table, scuffs around the legs of the bed from his and Zoro's 'activities' and a few charred marks on the floor where a cigarette or two escaped the ashtray and singed the ground before Sanji had noticed it. Little by little the room fit itself around him and reflects who he is as much as Zoro's chaotic room filled with lost plectrums, frantically scribbled guitar tabs and unwashed socks reflects who he is. 

He sips at his coffee just on the right side of hot, black and no sugar just like he likes it. 

“Guess what day it is.” Zoro repeats from under the duvet. 

“Sunday?” Sanji answers again, scratching at his chin and the hair that rests there. He downs a little more of his coffee.

“Ok, yeah, but that's not what I was getting at.” the guitarist responds. Calloused fingertips reach out and press chord patterns absently into Sanji's spine, his fingers dancing along the bones. 

“Hm, is it the day that you stop sticking your fingers in your ears and then staring at whatever grossness you've dug out under your fingernails before flicking it across the room? Because that would be really great if today was that day.” Sanji asks, shooting Zoro a firm look. They'd had an argument about that not so long ago. Sanji still loves Zoro, even though it's been nearly six months now that they've been together. That lovely honeymoon phase has long since past and now it's the phase where Sanji will bitch at Zoro for picking his ears and yet still love him and kiss him. It's the stage where Zoro is too fed up of Sanji's inability to keep his eyes to himself around women but trusts him enough that nothing will come of it aside from drooling on Sanji's part. 

“I'm sorry, what? I can't hear you. Maybe I should just...” Zoro starts, moving a finger to his ear. 

“Don't you dare do that in my bed!” Sanji snaps, grabbing Zoro's hand as the guitarist laughs loudly. 

“Guess what day it is then!” Zoro teases him. 

“Ugh, I give up.” he sighs and finishes the last of his coffee in record time, placing it on the bedside table and watching a drop of coffee slide down the side of his favourite mug and spread into a ring where the mug is sat. 

“You know how I can play the guitar perfectly again?” Zoro says, entirely not answering the question. 

“Yeah, it's impressive that you manage it under the crushing weight of your ego. What's your point?” Sanji responds with a yawn and a stretch. Zoro takes the opportunity to run his hands up Sanji's bare chest and pinch his nipples hard enough to make the blonde yelp and slap him away. 

“Shitty spiral, you know I'm right.” Zoro says, reaching threateningly for Sanji's chest again. 

“I know you're an idiot. Are you actually going to tell me what day it's supposed to be or did you just wake me up to harass and grope me?” he demands, looking down at his grinning boyfriend. 

“Today is the day that you start recording again, today you're going to sing again.” Zoro beams at him.

Sanji practically feels his blood freeze in his veins, he feels his chest tighten up and his tongue threaten to be entirely uncooperative. 

“N-no I can't. See, just then? I can't even-” he says panicking. Zoro leans forward and takes his wrists in hand. Thick calloused thumbs rub the soft skin on the inside of Sanji's wrist, slower and smoother than the rhythm of his thundering pulse. 

“You're fine. You've not stuttered for ages until just then. You've got to sing again sometime and today is the day.” Zoro says soothingly, his grip on Sanji's wrists gentle but firm. 

“But- wh-why not tomorrow? Or next week?” Sanji suggests weakly, the idea filling him with dread. He's had nightmares about it over and over again. Sometimes he opens his mouth and his voice has gone entirely, other times the dreams are more metaphorical, he'll open his mouth and dust or blood will flow out when he tries to sing. The idea of standing in front of that microphone for real in front of people who depend on him is positively terrifying. 

“Why not today?” Zoro responds simply. 

“It doesn't matter if it doesn't go right, just go with it. I wrote you a song to sing and we can record it however you like, stutters and all. You might not stutter at all, you might do it on every word, I don't care. Just sing.” Zoro insists, his eyes staring right into Sanji. 

The blonde shifts uncomfortably, he's got a million and one fears running around in his head and he doesn't want to do this but even more than that he doesn't want to lose his place in this band. They need him to sing and there's only so long he can avoid doing that for. He wants to sing again, he wants to be on that stage at Zoro's side making music again, he wants it so bad. He is so, so scared of failing though. 

“Shh.” Zoro shushes him and leans forward to kiss Sanji's lips. Sanji shudders, fear running through his system and so he clings a little more tightly to Zoro. 

“Move your skinny butt cook.” Zoro says suddenly, as if he can only cope with so much sensitivity at once. Zoro pushes Sanji up off of the bed until the blonde is standing and then, as if on second thought, slaps his bare ass. 

“Never heard you complaining about my butt before.” Sanji grouses, happier to be arguing about that than the prospect of him singing again.

“Did I say I was complaining?” Zoro grins, tilting his head slightly and leering.

“Shitty pervert.” he mutters, pulling open his dresser drawer and pulling out underwear and socks. Going through the familiar motions of getting dressed gives his still anxious body something to do, even though his mind is starting to circle back to the idea of singing. He knows that Zoro would insist that it was 'only them', that singing in front of the band is no big deal in comparison to a crowd. That kind of makes sense if you don't think about it too hard, but the way Sanji thinks about it is that all he has to do is risk screwing up in front of the group of people who's opinions matter to him most. He'd almost rather screw up in front of a bunch of strangers that he'll never see again. 

“Watching you think is like watching a hamster run around in a wheel. Squeak-a squeak-a.” Zoro laughs, waving his finger around in a circle. 

“Why do I even let you talk to me, let alone sleep with me?” Sanji snaps, hurling a pair of balled up socks right across the room at Zoro's head. To his satisfaction it gets Zoro right in the nose.

“I dunno, you did something terrible in a past life perhaps.” Zoro suggests airily and flings the socks back at Sanji, catching him in the back of the head just as he turns to go to the wardrobe. 

Despite being grown ass men Sanji is ashamed to admit that the two of them hurl the balled up socks back and forth at each other for the entire time that Sanji gets dressed, right up until they get lodged on top of one of the high and mostly decorative shelves on Sanji's wall. Both of them are far too lazy to climb up there and get them just out of spite and so the fight ends with each of them 100% convinced that they were the one who emerged victorious. 

“S-so when did you write the song?” Sanji asks as he and Zoro start walking down the first of many staircases to get downstairs, one of the drawbacks there are to living at the very top floor of a tall building. 

“Over the last week. I set it all in your favourite key.” Zoro adds on, making Sanji's heart melt a little. Maybe he's just getting sappy but it's the little things that Zoro does that ruin him. It's when Zoro brings him coffee, when Zoro is cool with Sanji stealing his shirts to sleep in, and in this case Zoro setting a song in his easiest range just to make his transition back into singing easier. 

“Thanks, loser.” Sanji mumbles, ducking his head to hide his dopey expression and shoving his shoulder into Zoro's to distract the guitarist. 

The closer the two of them come to the ground floor though the higher Sanji's level of anxiety rises. Either Zoro's reflexes are way quicker than Sanji's own or the guitarist really knows him that well because when they reach the end of the last staircase and Sanji tries to detour to the kitchen Zoro hems him in and herds him towards the music room like the biggest green sheepdog ever. It's subtle too, just a press of Zoro's shoulder against his in the right direction, almost a lean and nothing that he could accuse Zoro of doing, the sneaky fuck. Sanji doesn't want to rush right into the studio but he wants to bitch about it and look like a whiny brat to Zoro even less and so he allows himself to be herded. 

His mood heads into 'oh shit no' territory when he comes into the studio to find that everyone is already there and the room is split between half of them studiously not watching him and the other half just staring at him. What do you mean it's been a while since he's been down here? Lies and slander. 

Zoro continues to herd him into the main area of the music studio and Sanji stares at the mic as he's forced to approach it. With the level of dread rising in his stomach right now the thing could be playing the ominous Jaws cello sounds at him and get the same effect. He doesn't have to stand in front of the thing though because before he gets there Zoro shoves him hard in the side and makes him topple down into Zoro's all time favourite bean bag. 

“HEY!” Sanji snarls out of principle. Zoro can't just be allowed to go around shoving him like that. Shit's not right. 

“You. Lyrics. Read.” Zoro says and pulls a folded sheet of paper out of his back pocket only to flick it into Sanji's chest. 

“W-what next? Me Tarzan. You Jane?” Sanji snorts at Zoro's eloquence. 

“You'd be Jane, I'm absolutely Tarzan. I can do the yell, I can prove it if you want.” Zoro grins and looks very much like he wants to prove it. 

“I'm coming up with a li- a- a list of things I'd like- fuck. A list of things I'd like less, but it's short.” Sanji manages and scowls. He hates when the stutter reaches up out of nowhere and ruins his snappy comebacks. 

“You wound me.” Zoro fake sniffs, with a wobbly pout and everything. It's enough to startle a laugh out of Sanji and make him forget for a second about his verbal self loathing. 

Zoro slings his guitar over his shoulder and settles down cross legged on the floor at Sanji's feet and starts softly playing an unfamiliar tune. As Sanji's eyes trace over the noted guitar tabs under the lyrics that Zoro's given him he realises that it's the music to this very song. He closes his eyes and listens to Zoro, tuning out the sounds of Usopp, Luffy and Chopper arguing about Super Smash Brothers Brawl and the best characters to play with. 

After the first run through Zoro starts again and Sanji reads the lyrics along silently in the privacy of his own head, his mind working out where best to put the stress and how to exploit his strengths. It's all usual music stuff that feels comfortable to slip into again but... well... he's still got this bit that doesn't fit. His stutter. 

Zoro leans forward and rests his chin on Sanji's knee. 

“Make me a deal, the first time you sing it through do it the whole way end to end. I don't care if you stutter, if you fuck it up or what. I can roll with it, the others can too. Hell, exploit it if you like, just don't quit. Make it to the end of the song. We can record it nine million times if it makes you happy just... get to the end.” Zoro says quietly, his voice low enough to not attract the attentions of the rest of their little band who are in a heated and slightly name calling debate about whether Kirby constitutes as cheating in Super Smash Brothers. 

Sanji bites his lip. He can't say no to a request like that and he knows that Zoro is doing it for his best interests but well... it's hard. He's not sure that he can do it and knowing for sure one way or the other is so final. 

“Sanji.” Zoro prompts, his voice taking on a warning tone. 

“Ok. I'll... I'll try.” Sanji agrees. Zoro moves lightning quick and suddenly there is a hand on the back of his neck and a warm and soft mouth pressed to his. He sighs in a small contented breath and breathes in the whole Zoro scent that his boyfriend has. 

“Our singer can't do his job with your tongue in his mouth Zoro. Are we doing this song or what?” Franky interrupts, not wincing at all under the glare that Sanji sends his way. How dare he interrupt sweet make outs? Treacherous bastard. 

Sanji struggles valiantly out of the sucking embrace of the bean bag and stands in what he hopes is a suave manner. Ok, no, there's no way to look suave after flailing out of a bean bag, no one can exit those things smoothly. Whatever. He completely isn't mentally rambling to distract himself from the prospect of singing. 

Hm. His lips are dry now. He can't sing with dry lips. No sir. Oh and now he needs a drink too, he ought to do that before singing. Perhaps if he keeps wasting time like this they'll all give up on this idea of making him sing. Sanji chances a glance at Zoro and is immediately pinned with an unimpressed stare. Or... or perhaps if he keeps putting off starting Zoro might just bludgeon him to death with his guitar. 

“Let's go!” Luffy declares suddenly and starts drumming with enthusiasm for hitting things that only he can muster. Zoro grins and starts playing along a few seconds later, the same melody that Sanji had heard earlier. 

He bites his lip and tries to stop the terrified flutter in his stomach. Just because he's going to sing doesn't mean he'll stutter. He repeats that to himself over and over again in his head before starting. He scrunches his eyes shut and tries to pretend that this isn't happening as he starts singing.

“C-C-C-”

FUCK. ABORT. But- shit, no he promised Zoro. He has to keep going.

“Cinnamon lips and candy kisses, on my tongue. Fun!” Sanji manages, his throat tight and terrified. He can do this, just... just one line at a time. 

“B-B-B-Buttery eyes, if only cries could come from those eyes. Oh!” Shit. This song is already ruined, or this recording of it anyway. He may as well hold true on his promise and keep going. It'll be good practice for the second recording of it he supposes. 

His shoulders slump, he's already failed so he may as well just... go on. The worst has happened, mission over. He may as well just enjoy the last of this train wreck of a song. As he drops his shoulders in despair though, he feels a knot un-tense and relax between his shoulder blades.

“Have you landed yet and, if so, would you let me know?   
I'm tired of looking up into those starry eyes.   
Does it rain where you are? Does it snow?   
And, if so, remind me not to go there, the weather affects my knee.” Despite himself Sanji finds a grin sneaking its way onto his face. He'd almost forgotten just how goddamn bizarre Zoro's lyrics could get when he was having fun and... well, it'd be hard work to not enjoy singing something so patently silly. 

“I've never felt this way before.” He croons, opening just one eye to look at Zoro who is beaming with sheer joy. 

Well, if he's going to do this stupid thing he may as well go all out on it. But... well, the start of the next verse feels unbalanced without the stuttering he did before. He may as well play it off as deliberate, it'll give the song more balance. And hey, maybe if he deliberately stammers he can control it. If he fucks up on purpose then it doesn't matter, he meant to do it!

“C-C-C-Cinnamon Lips, go powder your cheeks and meet your   
new beau, oh...   
C-C-C-Counting sheep, if only sheep could put me to sleep, oh...   
I've never felt this way before,  
I've never felt this way before.”

Okay, so he sounds stupid, even he isn't sure if he's faking that stutter or not now. It doesn't matter though because he's making it through the song, just like he promised Zoro that he would. He feels the same fire in his blood that he used to every day that he's sung in his life before. He feels the memory of every stage performance, every song sung in the shower, every practice at Zoro's side, all of them flow through him. He loves this, singing is what he lives for. He glances around and sees Zoro go absolutely wild with his guitar, Usopp and the others are doing the same. Their happiness is contagious but... maybe they caught it from him. He's singing again and he's getting to hear them play their instruments with him. He's honoured to be part of their band, to witness their talent up close, let alone to be surrounded by it as he is. He lets his eyes drift shut for a second as their music washes over him. How had he considered running from this just because he was scared of failing? 

Brimming with glee he leans into the mic and sees Zoro grin and do just the same. 

He pitches his voice just right and sings again, leaning into the microphone. 

“Some day...” He sings, his voice high and sweet. 

“One day...” Zoro responds back, his voice an echo of Sanji's own. 

“you'll miss me,” He sings again and beams as he watches Zoro respond to him.

“you'll miss me,” the guitarist echoes again.

“Mundane Sundays, when I'm gone. One day,” Sanji sings along, setting it up for Zoro to come in again. This hadn't really been written into the lyrics that Zoro had given him earlier. The lyrics that are currently sitting abandoned in the bean bag chair. But making it up as he goes along is just as fun.

“some day...” Zoro sings, playing along and editing his guitar as he does so. Usopp and the others must catch on and patch enough of the song over it to keep it sounding seamless.

“You'll miss me.” That bit they both come in on together. For a split second he's worried that he's come in on Zoro's line, but since there's no such thing he supposes it's ok. Besides, they harmonised together just fine. He flicks a smile in Zoro's direction but the guitarist's eyes are shut, his hands moving over the guitar and his head tilted to the mic. 

“One day when I'm gone” He pipes up again, trying not to get so distracted by Zoro that he forgets to keep singing.

“adieu and so long” Zoro sings easily.

“One day when I'm gone!” Sanji says, his voice going high in a way that he somewhat smugly knows that Zoro's can't manage. This is why they need him, technically speaking anyway. That's not why they keep him though, they keep him because all of the fucked up people in their band with shitty childhoods, awful relationships and deep scars... all of them have become a family. That's why he's still here and why he's not going to leave. Baby couldn't tear them apart and his own fear won't either. Stutter or no stutter, this is where he belongs.

Filled with fight he leans into the microphone and sings a little more forcefully. As he starts to sing he slams his foot into the one pedal connected to the microphone, it is supposed to give his voice an effect but the only thing that they ever have hooked up there is a repeater which will bring back his own words to him after a set amount of time. As he does so he sees Chopper's face light up with an idea behind the window and his hands fly over his controls back there. Sanji leaves him to it, trusting him.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no-oh-oh.” He sings forcefully and before he's even done singing a higher pitched edited version of his own voice slips back through his headphones. Sanji grins and shoots his own identical refrain back, he and Chopper playing with the one line a few times. The others all hear it through their headsets too and go along with their music to allow them the time to keep playing. 

The song winds down and Sanji leans in to deliver his last line, a sweet last echo back to an earlier line.

“Have you landed yet and, if so, would you let me know?”

Zoro's guitar fades out and the others start to do the same. Sanji isn't done yet though, behind his back he jerks his hand at Usopp, indicating that he wants him to keep going. He hears Usopp gasp as he realises what Sanji is meaning and gets on it. 

Sanji gathers up all the love he has for this band, for his craft and for his friends, especially for Zoro. He tries to force all of those feelings, all of that sentiment into one line.

“I've never felt this way before.”

And he fucking means it too.

He's just turning to look at Zoro when Luffy somehow hurls himself over the drum kit and damn near across the room to get to Sanji, his arms wrapping around his neck and grinning as he buries Sanji into a vertebrae separating hug. 

“THAT WAS AWESOME!” Luffy bellows in Sanji's ear. 

“I'll say.” Zoro grins, sliding his earphones off too and hanging them on the guitar stand with his beloved guitar. 

He makes the mistake of walking too close to him and Luffy and being grabbed into the hug. 

“Sanji, we can re-record that if you really want to but...” Nami's voice comes over the speaker, hesitant and clearly not wanting to do what she's offering. He looks up at her through the glass and smiles.

“You know what?” He says, looking over at Zoro.

“I think I like it just as it is.” Sanji smiles. 

 

The song for this last time was “C-c-c-cinnamon lips, by OKGO”

 

A/N: Ok, so... it's been a wild ride everyone and I hope you enjoyed this until the end (277k words, whaaaat?). I didn't know what reactions the topic would get and how people would interpret the material that I'd written, but I felt it was worth the risk. I'm not going to, and never will, explain what I meant by what I wrote or the interpretations that I wanted you to take from it, if it made you think then I achieved what I wanted to. I hope that you enjoyed the fic and I also want to thank everyone for being so patient with me, my own mental health has gone haywire and between the last chapter and this one my diagnosis changed to bipolar disorder. Your understanding and patience has been amazing, thanks for everything.


End file.
